


Hello Kitty Kaiba

by Nenya85



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, Humor, M/M, Odd application of fairy tale logic, Prideshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nenya85/pseuds/Nenya85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite the title, it's NOT a crossover! It's business as usual in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world… monsters are attacking, Yugi and friends are about to save the day and Kaiba's their reluctant ally. Friendship and trust seem irrelevant until a cat-headed goddess decides to meddle. Obviously AU. Eventual, implied Prideshipping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. IT'S THE OLD SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT QUESTION

**In the book "Dune" there's a saying of the Bene Gesserit: "Beginnings are such delicate times." I think that's true for stories as well as people, so I'd love to know what you think of this beginning.**

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I do admire Kazuki Takahashi for his skill in creating such vibrant characters and for his generosity in allowing the rest of us to borrow them for a few adventures of our own.

 **SUMMARY:** Despite the title, it's NOT a crossover! It's business as usual in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world… monsters are attacking, Yugi and friends are about to save the day and Kaiba's their reluctant ally. Friendship and trust seem irrelevant until a cat-headed goddess decides to meddle. Obviously AU. Eventual, implied Prideshipping.

 **THE TIMELINE:** In this story, a final battle takes place after DOMA. The Grand Prix and Ancient Egypt/Memory World arcs do not exist in this story. Although this story starts in the middle of **_a_** final battle, it is NOT the final battle from Yu-Gi-Oh! Zorc/Zork Necrophades does not exist in this story.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I use the manga version of events where possible, but I also lean on the subtitled anime versions of the Virtual World, Noa's Arc and DOMA arc episodes, simply because they have a lot of the Kaiba brothers and I like them. If it becomes necessary, I'll put in a manga or anime note explaining plot or character differences from the 4Kids dubbed version.

 **MANGA/DEATH-T NOTE:** After Yugi/Yami no Yugi beats Kaiba in their first duel, he's driven to create the Death-T tournament, and to force Yugi and his friends to enter a competition that could really kill them. Mokuba insists on being one of Yugi's challengers. Kaiba misreads this as a personal attack, and when Mokuba loses, Kaiba forces his brother to go through the Death Simulation chamber he had designed for Yami. Yami rescues Mokuba, and defeats Kaiba by summoning Exodia. As a result of this penalty game, Yami shatters Kaiba's heart, giving Kaiba the opportunity to rebuild it without the darkness that was destroying him, and leaving Kaiba in a coma until he does so.

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: IT'S THE OLD SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT QUESTION**

Sometimes the duel itself doesn't matter. Sometimes it's the aftermath that counts.

It wasn't surprising that no one in Domino noticed what was going on. After all, Domino was hardly the most observant of cities. And, to be fair, the abandoned warehouse looked perfectly ordinary… just another squat, boarded up building sitting on an unused pier. Both pier and warehouse were scheduled for renovation later in the month, making the dumpy building private enough to be the perfect venue for a life or death duel with a 3,000 year old Egyptian snake-god of evil.

Yugi and the gang were fighting to save the world, something that was yawn-inducingly routine by Domino standards. They'd done it before and would again (probably before the summer vacation had ended.) Yugi and his friends were used to bizarre opponents and life or death stakes. They were even used – although Kaiba would have denied it as strenuously as he would have denied the title "friend" – to mysterious ancient magic and penalty games. Even the invisible bubble – or shield – that separated them from their watching friends was familiar.

The duel was way too same old- same old to bother to recount… right up until the appearance of the goddess with the cat head. Yugi (or more accurately, the 3000 year old spirit of an ex-pharaoh currently dueling with Yugi's body), Jounouchi and Kaiba were too focused on their battle for even the appearance of a cat-headed goddess on their side of the field to break their concentration. Kaiba had an opponent in front of him, Mokuba at his back and was blind to all else. It's doubtful whether he'd even registered the fact that his opponent was a giant snake, something Jounouchi was working overtime at trying to ignore. And Yami didn't remember enough of his past to realize that when a goddess comes to help, anything becomes possible.

Kaiba, Yami and Jounouchi had just fused their three signature monsters to form the Light and Dark Dragon Sage, trying to look like they'd done it before. They looked at their newly created monster, then at each other, then at their opponent. Even Kaiba had finally noticed he was fighting an enormous snake god – and none of them was sure what it would take to win.

That's when having a goddess on your side comes in handy. Bastet began chanting and although they hadn't played a card, the vision of one appeared: Exchange of Energy. Their monster started to glow. Its form dissolved in a pure light that spiraled back to include them, radiating until they were at the center of a whirling stream of light.

Bastet shook her head, clearly dissatisfied. "Three receptacles of power are not enough to defeat our enemy. Luckily that's a problem easily solved." She waved her hand and an unearthly darkness flared out, as if a match that created the opposite of light had been struck. It ensnared Yugi, and then just as suddenly disappeared, revealing two duelists – both with tri-colored hair and identically stunned faces –where only one had stood before.

"Partner?" Yugi said, staring at the young man he'd gotten used to calling his other self or even his darkness. The slightly taller, slightly slimmer version was staring at his hands as if he'd never seen them before and was wondering what they were good for besides drawing cards. As the darkness left, Exchange of Energy flickered back to life.

For an instant the duelists were frozen in place as Yugi stared at Yami – and Jounouchi stared at them both. The serpentine-god laughed, a horrible hissing sound like steam escaping from a demented kettle.

"I don't fucking believe this!" Kaiba yelled, jumping forward and shoving more cards in his duel disk. "You two kept insisting that you were two separate people to anyone who would listen, and even to people like me who didn't give a damn. If you flake out now just because you've been proven right I swear you won't have to wait for Snake Guy over there to kill you – I'm going to do it myself! Get your asses in gear and focus!"

Bastet smiled. "Well said. A focal point is indeed what is needed." She began her incantation again, louder and faster this time. It was like throwing extra kindling on a slow-burning fire. The unearthly fires swelled around them again. Then, the quality of the light changed, became more focused. It streamed from Jounouchi, Yugi and Yami into and then through Kaiba as he stood at the tip of the pyramid formed by the other three duelists. He looked more like a weapon than ever as he stood bathed in a light that turned laser sharp as it passed through his body, as it leapt out from his spare frame to attack their enemy.

It pierced the giant snake's heart, swerved downwards to skewer his giant torso over and over, leapt up to reach into his brain. It grew more brilliant, until pieces of him started to disintegrate, like a film strip burning in the heat of a projector. No one, not even a god, was meant to hold such radiance. He shattered and vanished, leaving them once again in the cool semi-darkness of the abandoned warehouse.

As the light left his body, Kaiba crumpled to the ground. The Other Yugi caught him as he fell, staggering under the sudden weight. He eased them both to the ground and sat with Kaiba's head cushioned in his lap.

"The duel's over. Why am I still seeing double?" Jounouchi wailed, his gaze shifting back and forth from one Yugi to the other.

"You're not." Yugi's voice shook. "Partner?" he asked, afraid this was one more illusion.

The Other Yugi nodded. "I don't understand what's happened any more than you do. But I'm here."

"You're… your own person… just like you were meant to be. It seems too good to be true." Yugi turned to Bastet. "Is this real?"

"When you duel in the name of the gods, all outcomes are real. You have destroyed an ancient threat. We are grateful. Our rewards are suitably divine."

The Other Yugi looked at the tall duelist in his arms. "Then why did you hurt Kaiba?"

"Hurt him? I've blessed him – just as I have with you. Not that humans are ever grateful," Bastet answered.

"Why won't he wake up?" the Other Yugi asked, shaking Kaiba as he spoke as though jerking his rival's unconscious body around would make the situation clear enough for even a cat-headed goddess to understand.

"I needed a sacrifice to use as a spear point, but I only needed one. The three of you…" she said, pointing to both Yugis and Jounouchi, "were so closely connected, so completely tied to each other and to your faith in your friends it would have taken more time than I could spare to pick the threads that bound you apart. He made my choice even easier when he leapt in front of the rest of you."

"He was just as much our comrade!" the Other Yugi yelled.

"If that's true, you have nothing to worry about. Do you speak for your entire group?" Bastet asked, looking past him to the others.

"Yes! Of course!" the Other Yugi answered.

"Forget about Kaiba! You have your own body, now! What's up with that?" Jounouchi asked.

"I think your teammate," she said waving towards Jounouchi, "has proven my point. You named him your comrade in good faith, but even after all you've been through together, your own team doesn't fully agree and as for your high priest…" she paused and gestured to the boy in the Other Yugi's arms – and it was astounding how young Kaiba looked when his eyes weren't blazing fire and his mouth was, for once, shut. "He didn't know he was your friend. All of that made it possible to take him without touching the rest of you. .. a situation that will remain unchanged unless you all amend it."

"What's it got to do with us? Kaiba's the one who has to learn not to be such a standoffish jerk, although how you expect him do that when he's in a coma…" Jounouchi argued.

"And you think he is the only one with lessons to learn, here?" Bastet asked.

"Never mind that! You had no right to hurt him!" the Other Yugi insisted.

"I told you: I've given him a gift beyond measure. You would be wise to pay attention. I dislike repeating myself."

"You call this a gift? Remind me not to hit you up for any birthday presents," Jounouchi muttered.

Bastet turned slightly to address the pharaoh. "I'm merely finishing the job that you started." She looked at Kaiba's unconscious form and gave a purring laugh. "He even looks much the same now as he did back when you left him unconscious after Death-T."

"That was different!" Yugi protested.

"I punished him with a penalty game. But I also left a way for him to break free – and to heal," the pharaoh said.

"As did I. Don't feel ashamed that you couldn't complete the job. It was a worthy attempt," Bastet admitted. "Especially since you are merely a mortal – and a young and inexperienced one at that. But you left him a puzzle to solve for a problem that reason alone can't fix. How can one piece together a heart in isolation when the essence of a heart is that it be shared?"

"Will you all forget Kaiba for a moment? What the hell is going on? How did the other Yugi get his own body?" Jounouchi asked.

"Magic," the goddess said with a sleek, self-possessed smile that made her seem more catlike than ever.

"What the fuck is going on? Why is a big, scary cat woman talking to us?" Jounouchi said. Yugi couldn't help but think that his friend spoke for them all.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but who are you?" Yugi asked, feeling that asking, "What are you?" would be a trifle impolite.

"It's nice that one of you has manners. I'm Bastet, the goddess of love and joy."

"Please, I don't understand… well… anything," Yugi said.

"I told you. It's magic." She sighed as she scanned their blank faces. "Why do mortals always insist on questioning the unknowable?" She turned back to the pharaoh. "You gave up all the remaining years of your life 3,000 years ago when you accepted being sealed into the Puzzle as the only way for us to avoid defeat. Now the battle is finally over. Thanks to you and your friends we've won, and we are returning the remaining years of your life to you."

"What of my search for my memories? I don't even know my name," he said.

"What's to remember? You were a pharaoh; you were sealed in the Millennium Puzzle when you were sixteen. Your life was as boring as any mortal's."

Jounouchi gave a bark of laughter, and then tried, unconvincingly, to turn it into a cough.

"Did you say something?" Bastet asked, like a teacher calling an unruly student in order.

"No ma'am," Jounouchi said, showing more contrition – or fear – than he ever had in school.

"But what of my family? My friends? I must have had them," the Other Yugi insisted.

"You did. But you have friends and a family again, don't you? You had a lover as well back then." She laughed. "You've lost nothing that can't be regained… and in the same form. It's a pity you can't see the irony."

The Other Yugi frowned.

Bastet roared. They flinched at the sound. She grew until her cat ears brushed the warehouse ceiling.

"I saw in your heart that you desired this gift more than any other. Are you daring to question my actions? You can join the afterlife any time you wish! I will send you there myself as a punishment for your ingratitude."

"Let's just say thank you to the nice cat-lady and run before she turns us all into toads or something," Jounouchi urged.

"At last, someone with common sense," Bastet said.

The Other Yugi knew that Bastet had read his desires accurately. In all the times he and Yugi had stayed up all night talking, in all the times they'd worried that the future would separate them… this was the one outcome they'd been almost afraid to mention, almost afraid to hope for, since both knew it would take a miracle…

The pharaoh thought he knew what Yugi would say, but he turned to him anyway.

"Follow your heart," Yugi said, shutting his eyes as though making a wish.

"Then if I accepted Bastet's offer…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Yugi dived for the floor and hugged him, smashing Kaiba between them. Yugi paused and shifted so he was at his partner's side, holding on to him.

"That would be perfect. It's everything we ever dreamed of!" Yugi said, shaking his former other self (and inadvertently, Kaiba) back and forth.

The Other Yugi felt slightly awkward accepting such a momentous gift from a goddess while sitting on the floor, but somehow, standing up and letting Kaiba's head bounce on the ground, or even handing him off to Yugi, seemed the greater sacrilege.

"Thank you. I have no words to express my gratitude," he said.

"I can only hope that's true. You've taken up enough of my time with your incessant babbling, and I'm still not finished with my tasks. I have your friend's welfare to consider… although I believe I've left that problem in good hands."

She vanished before they could ask what she meant. Jounouchi breathed a sigh of relief at her disappearance. As Bastet had noted, he had a lot of common sense.

Mokuba had been pounding on the invisible barrier separating him from his brother. It vanished with Bastet, and Mokuba half-fell, half-ran towards the older Kaiba.

"Nisama!" he screamed as he reached him, almost pushing Yami out of the way in his haste to hold his sibling.

"We could hear everything," Anzu said as she and Honda joined the group around Kaiba's body. Honda, Anzu and Jounouchi looked at each other. It was official: their best friend was now two people and his arch-rival and sometime ally was lying unconscious on the floor.

"Are you okay, Yugi?" Anzu asked.

Yugi nodded, although he looked far from sure that his answer was the correct one.

"I think so," he said, turning back to his partner as if he was afraid that the person he was used to calling his "other self" had disappeared in the time it took him to look at Anzu and glance back.

They fell silent for a moment. The only sound in the warehouse was Mokuba barking orders into his cell phone, sounding remarkably like his older brother. No one was surprised to see Isono and Fubeta appear a few minutes later.

"Luckily the pier was deserted. We should be able to get Nisama into the limo and back to the mansion without this becoming public," Mokuba said to Isono and Fubeta, barely noticing the near identical Yugis in the room – much less that one of them was still sitting next to his brother and seemed no more inclined to let go than Mokuba was.

"Mokuba, your brother needs to be in a hospital," Anzu said.

"Is a hospital going to be able to fix this?" Mokuba's gaze swept the group surrounding his brother. He snorted when no one answered. "I didn't think so. Isono's getting a med team to the mansion. The last thing my brother would want is for the press to find out that the CEO of Kaiba Corporation is in a coma after a mysterious encounter. Again."

The Other Yugi winced at the reminder.

Isono nodded to Mokuba. "The limousine is here, Mokuba-sama," he said. He, Fubeta and Mokuba took charge of Kaiba's body with a territorial authority that precluded any offers of help. The gang followed them to the limo. Isono and Fubeta angled Kaiba's body onto the back seat. Mokuba perched on the seat where he could hold his brother in place. The pharaoh started to follow when Yugi called, "Yami! Wait!" It was strange to hear the name they had used in private spoken aloud. Surprise held him in place a moment as the limo door shut and it shot away.

"We can go see them later," Yugi told him.

Yami looked at him, puzzled, not understanding the need to wait. But he was used to deferring to Yugi. That hadn't changed with the sudden acquisition of a body.

Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda stared at each other. They had called Yugi's other half, Yami no Yugi, Yugi's Darkness, among themselves, but they were suddenly unsure whether that made it a name, even though Yugi had just screamed it.

"I give up, what do we call you?" Jounouchi finally burst out.

Yami turned around at that. "I still don't know my name. I guess that it, like my memories, is in the past." He looked at the four worried faces before him and smiled. "It's okay. I'm here with my partner and my friends. Next to that a name is minor."

"Well, we still need one," Jounouchi insisted. "We can't keep calling you 'the Other Yugi' or 'Yami no Yugi.'"

"Why not? Well, take half of it, anyway." Anzu said.

"Are you crazy? What kind of name is Other?" Jounouchi argued.

"I think she meant Yami," Yugi said with a sigh. He looked at his partner, but Yami had turned back to watch the road, even though the limousine was long out of sight.

Kaiba wasn't aware of anything as mundane as the mechanics of getting him out of the limousine and up to his room in the Kaiba mansion. He was equally oblivious of the medical team fussing around him, the IV being put into his arm, or Mokuba shooing everyone out.

The first thing Kaiba noticed was that he was cold and alone in a darkness that was unnervingly familiar. He had no idea where he was… beyond that he was somewhere in that strange limbo that awaited those who lost penalty games, the place he'd heard Yugi and his friends call the shadow realm. But just as he thought that he was used to being alone, he realized there was someone – or something – in the darkness watching him. He found himself hoping that his brother hadn't found a way to join him.

"Mokuba!" he yelled, relieved when there was no answer. He knew from experience that if he was in the shadow realm his brother couldn't hear him.

"Your brother is safe. It's time to concentrate on you."

The voice was low and feminine. Like the darkness it was familiar. The last thing Kaiba could remember was dueling. The outcome had hung in the balance when she had arrived, a creature more powerful than any duel monster, even the ones from the god cards… a grotesque thing with a cat's head atop a woman's body.

"Grotesque thing… creature… you're not very complimentary." There was a flirtatious pout in her voice.

Somehow this must be a consequence of that duel – like the sudden separation of Yugi from the other one, the one that appeared every time they dueled. The one he would have denied looking for with his dying breath.

But Kaiba couldn't remember the duel's end. If he was in the shadow realm, did that mean they'd lost? But if they had, where were the others?

"You won't be able to reason your way out of this one," the voice replied.

"I wouldn't advise betting against me," he taunted.

"I'm not. I'm betting on you. But you're heading down the wrong path. Trust me, this is one puzzle you won't be able to solve with reason or logic or any of the other tools you use to hide behind." She sighed. "I don't know why I waste my time giving mortals divine gifts when all they do is question them. You're lucky I have a fondness for aloof and wary things. In fact, that might be a brilliant idea…"

Kaiba had been trapped like this three times before. With Pegasus and Noa there had been no goal beyond keeping him confined and in pain. Death-T had been different. Yami had been different. Kaiba had come, however reluctantly, to understand that. Yami had been trying desperately to knock Kaiba off of the path he'd been marching down with his usual single minded determination, not caring that it led to his own damnation.

Yami had set a lesson before him then refused to release him until he'd completed the assigned task. In a way it had been like Kaiba's childhood under Gozaburo, except that rebuilding instead of destruction had been the aim. And however much Kaiba had hated the implication he had anything left to learn and had resented the teacher, there had been a way out. Yami had left him to find the solution for himself.

Hopefully this would be the same… just one more challenge to beat.

"You need to discover if somewhere within yourself, somewhere beyond logic or calculations of risk and benefit, you have the ability to trust," Bastet said, her voice as soft as a cat's purr.

Kaiba snorted. She was just like the rest of Yugi's cheerleading squad, acting as though if he'd just change, everything would be fine.

He heard a faint, annoyed hiss in the darkness. "I did not say that you were the only one with lessons to learn. Friendship without understanding or acceptance is but half-offered. It might be better if I bind that formidable intellect, since all it seems to be doing at the moment is getting in your way." Her amusement had a faintly purring note to it. Kaiba hated the sound – and wondered how she'd heard him when he didn't remember speaking aloud.

"I'd like to see you try," he snarled, trying to find and stare down his opponent.

"Don't worry. Not permanently. That would be like cutting the arms off a statue. I'll even leave you the days to puzzle things out to your heart's content. The nights however, are mine. From sundown to sunup it is the world of emotion that matters. You need to spend an equal time learning to feel without attempting to make sense of things." The voice faded with her words.

Kaiba wondered if it was night yet – and if apprehension counted as an emotion.

* * *

.

 ** _Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing another story:_** I can't believe this will be our fourth story together! Also, thanks for saying: "Do… it…" at the idea of actually titling a story "Hello Kitty Kaiba."

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I always think about when each story should start carefully. Although Kaiba has issues (well, more like a subscription) with trust and friendship, his outlook and attitude changes from when we first meet him to the end of Yu-Gi-Oh! Similarly, although even at the end, I'm not sure any of the Yugi-taachi have Kaiba on their friendslist, how Yugi's friends feel about Kaiba changes during the course of the manga/anime.

I picked after the end of DOMA as a starting point because issues of friendship and trust are in such a state of flux on both sides. They all worked together during the DOMA arc and showed a measure of trust in each other – but there's also a sense that Kaiba isn't quite comfortable with this new state of affairs and that nobody is sure what it means for the future.

 **Acknowledgements:** One nice thing about starting a story is that you get to say hello and thanks to people. Thanks to BnoMiko for everything and Splintered Star for listening and bouncing ideas and cat puns back and forth and EvilMidget6 for your support. Halowing and Dragonlady222 have reviewed just about every chapter of every story I've ever written. I can't start another one without thanking you for your encouragement. And Kagemihari – can't start a new story or a new year without wishing you a good one.

 **Light and Dark Dragon Sage Note:** I realized as I was writing this that except for the legendary dragons in the DOMA arc, (and I guess the five dragon combo from the video game arc kind of counts) Jounouchi, Yami and Kaiba have never combined their monsters. Which is usually when I start making things up.

 **Evil Snake God Note:** There really is an ancient Egyptian Snake God of Evil. His name is Apep or Apophis. He was the enemy of Ra and the god of dissolution, darkness and non-being. Even better, in some versions he was killed by Bastet.

 **Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account. The link is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

**_Happy New Year! As always, reviews would be appreciated._ **


	2. Cat's Paw

**CHAPTER 2: CAT'S PAW**

Mokuba sat next to his brother and tried to figure things out. The freaky goddess seemed to think she'd done his brother a favor. Then again, she also seemed to think that whole penalty game thing that had left his brother in a coma had been an equally nifty idea. Mokuba frowned, wishing for an even bigger dog headed god to take her on.

He tried to remember her words. Bastet seemed to be saying that Nisama was in a coma because he didn't really trust Yugi and his friends, and they didn't care about him. That, Mokuba admitted, was true. But Bastet had also implied that if that changed, he'd wake up. Mokuba knew if he asked for help, the whole gang would be on his doorstep in an instant. They were nice like that, even the ones like Jounouchi, who hadn't quite forgiven his brother yet.

He stopped before he'd finished punching in Yugi's phone number. That was too easy. Getting them here because they were nice or because he'd asked and they felt sorry for him wasn't what Bastet had been talking about.

That made it even more gratifying when the gang came without being asked. Mokuba showed them into his brother's room, trying not to think about what his Nisama would say about the invasion. It wasn't like the room was particularly revealing anyway. It was large, as was the bed. It was neat. There was a glass table at one end with a computer on it and a framed picture that everyone assumed was one of Mokuba – and knew enough to stay away from. There was the expected Blue Eyes White Dragon statue – in glass – seeming to guard the room from its corner. The windows looked out over the grounds and another statue.

Yugi, Anzu and Jounouchi sat down on the chairs Mokuba had had brought in and looked at each other.

"Honda said to tell you he was sorry he can't come by until later. He had to watch his nephew. You remember Jouji…" Yugi's voice trailed off as he realized the only time Mokuba had met Honda's nephew had been at Death-T.

There was an awkward pause which Yugi and Anzu tried to fill with well-meant non-sentences. Finally Anzu came up with, "How is he? And how are you doing, Mokuba? I know how scary this all must be for you."

"There's no change. At least not yet," Mokuba said.

"I'm sure it'll be okay. Just think of how many times your brother has come back to you, no matter how bad things looked. And I believe your brother is my friend with all my heart," Yugi said.

Mokuba smiled briefly, trying to match Yugi's confidence.

Unfortunately, the conversation dried up after that, leaving them sitting and staring at each other once more. The uncomfortable silence was only broken (sort of) when Isono came into the room, went up to Mokuba and started talking to him in a tone too low for the rest to hear.

Mokuba looked from the door to his brother and bit his lip; Kaiba Corporation business needed his attention. He hated leaving his brother; it was why he'd brought his laptop in here and handled everything by phone or conference call.

"Why don't you go take care of whatever it is?" Yugi said. "We'll stay with your brother until you get back."

Mokuba nodded and left, shutting the door behind him. If he wanted Yugi and his friends to feel comfortable with his brother, he had to give them some privacy, even from him.

"Great. So what do we do now?" Jounouchi said.

"We could try talking to him," Yugi said.

"Talking to him? It's going to be a kinda one-sided conversation, Yugi," Jounouchi pointed out.

"It's supposed to be good for people in a coma," Yugi said stubbornly. "Besides, if there's any chance it'll help, we have to do everything we can. You heard what Bastet said. I should have tried harder. If I'd done a better job of being his friend… what if this mess is all my fault?"

"No, it isn't!" Anzu walked up to Kaiba for the first time since entering the room, and yelled, "This is all your own fault, Seto Kaiba!"

"Uh… I think you're supposed to say nice things, Anzu. I read that they can hear you," Yugi said.

"If you want me to be nice, stop blaming yourself! There's a reason he's the one in a coma, not you. Bastet said it herself. He always stood apart from everyone."

"I keep thinking maybe if I'd just…" Yugi repeated.

"Just, what? Tried harder? Every time we did, he pushed us away that much faster! You can't force him to be your friend." She shook her head at Kaiba. "Why do you always have to make things so hard for yourself and everyone around you? No one wants you here like this."

"Anzu! That's not fair! No, he never wanted to be our friend – that's what he said anyway – but we wouldn't be the ones sitting here today talking about him and Yami wouldn't be walking around free if Kaiba hadn't helped. He saved our lives at the risk of his own. If that's not friendship, what is?"

Anzu stared at Yugi, almost able to believe for an instant that Yami still inhabited his body. She'd never heard him speak so sternly before, and part of her resented it was on Kaiba's behalf.

"She's right, dude." Jounouchi said. "I don't mind being here for the kid's sake – or even for his – but don't expect me to act all broken up."

"Then leave until you're ready to come back and give Kaiba the kind of support he deserves," Yami said as he entered the room.

Jounouchi stared at him.

"What gives, buddy? This is just what I'm talking about! You should be out partying up a storm, not sitting here worrying about Kaiba. He's just like a cat: the one thing you can be sure of is that he's going to land on his feet. Take a page from his book and look out for yourself."

"Like Kaiba did in our duel?" Yami asked.

Anzu sighed. The truth was that working with Kaiba to defeat various bad guys was easier than forgiving – or liking – him. But she had come here to help. It had seemed so much simpler before she'd walked into Kaiba's mansion (and his bedroom) for the first time.

Anzu went back to the bed, half-expecting Kaiba to wake up just to make fun of her for sounding like such an emotional mess. "All right, I didn't mean it exactly." She turned to Yugi. "I'm scared. I can't stand it when you get down on yourself every time we meet up with Kaiba and things go wrong. All I can see is Duelists Kingdom when he cheated to win and then stood there laughing while you were kneeling on the ground crying!" She faced Kaiba again. "But that's not fair either, is it? You deserved every horrible thing I said back then. But not today. This is Bastet's fault, not yours." She shook her head. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. You keep saying that the past is meaningless. But it's hard to let go of it sometimes, isn't it? I promise to try, though."

Jounouchi went to the window and looked out.

"What? You yelled at him?" Mokuba said as he came back in the room.

"This whole situation… it just has me wound up. How about you, Mokuba? Is there anything you need?" Anzu said.

"I need my brother to wake up."

Yugi looked up with relief as Honda entered the room.

"Hi guys!" he said, then turned to the bed, looking uncertain before adding, "Hi, Kaiba… wow this feels weird."

"Talk to him all you want. Yugi said it helps," Jounouchi said.

Honda looked more confused than ever. "Uh… okay… sorry I'm late, Kaiba. My sister just got home. I swear her son, Jouji, gets more perverted every day. If I was her I'd be scared to have any more, but they're expecting a second one in a few months."

Even Mokuba had to laugh.

It was interesting, Kaiba thought, that you could kind of hear what was going on when you were in a coma. Not totally, of course - it wasn't like he could recount the details of a business meeting, if any had been held in his hospital room. But he was aware of Mokuba sitting by his bed. Mokuba seemed to have taken his laptop to the room and had kept reading aloud all the routine business emails and production details all day. It was familiar, soothing almost – except for the catch in Mokuba's voice every now and then. Kaiba assumed those were the moments when Mokuba paused and looked at him.

Then Yugi had arrived. Kaiba remembered hearing he'd been a regular visitor after Death-T as well. Kaiba snorted at that. If it'd been anyone else – Yugi's no longer invisible friend for example – Kaiba would have assumed that he'd shown up to gloat or to make sure Kaiba wasn't getting up any time soon. But Yugi had visited him when they'd been enemies. Kaiba figured it made sense he'd be an even more regular visitor now that they were allies. Yugi had probably managed to convince himself that made them friends, Kaiba thought, wishing he was able to roll his eyes.

Most of the rest of the geek squad had come as well. Jounouchi was a mostly silent if hostile presence. The girl that hung out with them was shrieking. At least she was consistent. She seemed to end up screaming at him every time they met. Kaiba was willing to concede – in the way people do when the matter at hand is of no importance – that she had every reason to dislike him.

The other Yugi wasn't there, of course, at least, not at first. Kaiba hadn't expected him. He wasn't sentimental like his smaller, softer partner. Kaiba had been a reluctant ally at best, and one whose usefulness had passed. But just as Kaiba had settled in his mind all the reasons his rival wouldn't show, he walked in the door.

Kaiba frowned thoughtfully. He could still sense Yugi's presence as well. He thought back to their last duel… how suddenly both Yugis had been standing side by side, seemingly identical, if you were ridiculously unobservant. Kaiba, for example, had told them apart instantly. The more familiar Yugi – the one he dueled – was slightly taller and infinitely more commanding. Even the golden stalks of hair on his head seemed thrust upwards into the sky, demanding attention.

" _I guess whatever Bastet did, stuck,"_ Kaiba thought with a sudden satisfaction that surprised him. What difference did it make how many little Yugis were running around Domino? But it did, especially now that the other Yugi was sitting by his bed and the rest of the loser brigade had left, especially now that the other Yugi had taken his hand and was speaking to him in those familiar commanding tones. Kaiba felt like if he just listened harder he could understand what the other Yugi was saying, as if his rival's words were burrowing their way into his consciousness.

"I have a name. It's Yami. I wanted you to know it."

Yami stared at Kaiba, sure that his rival was aware of him, hoping, somehow, that Kaiba had heard him. He sat watching each restless twitch of the other boy's body, as Kaiba tried to fight his way to consciousness by force of will alone. Yami grinned; it was so like Kaiba not to recognize any power greater than his own determination.

The sun went down. Mokuba turned on the lights. Kaiba's face smoothed itself out. Yami tried to tell himself it was a good sign, that his rival was resting comfortably, but he couldn't help feeling like Kaiba was curiously absent – even for a man in a coma. He waited, but the sense that Kaiba had disappeared grew stronger; only the steady rise and fall of his chest reassured Yami that Kaiba was still alive. Yami sighed as he finally got up, declining Mokuba's offer of a ride home. He wanted to walk.

Once the sun had set, the only thing Kaiba was aware of was the feeling of being small and defenseless, unprotected in a world that was too big for him to control. He knew the feeling and he hated it. Although he could no longer remember the details in his new form, it had accompanied him as he and Mokuba had gotten out of their uncle's car and stared at the orphanage for the first time. He'd sworn back then that he'd do whatever it took – as long as he never had to feel that way again.

But the tighter he tried the hang on to his memories, the harder he tried to think, the faster both slipped through his grasp. He was standing on a not-quite unfamiliar doorstep, left with nothing but an aching emptiness.

Logic may have deserted him, but his emotions were sharper, impossible to ignore or push aside. He looked at the door, knowing that warmth and comfort lay behind it. He felt a welcoming presence, as if now – when he was more vulnerable than he'd ever been before, there was someone ready to help.

And that was the worst feeling of all.

Trust was the one game, even in this form, he knew better than to play. He backed away from that treacherous emotion. Then anger came to his rescue as it always had. Unlike that deceptive door with its false promise of shelter, anger was dependable; it was his one true refuge.

He hissed at the door as if it was his enemy, then deliberately turned, squatted down and peed on the pavement next to it. He stared at his handiwork in satisfaction for a moment, then raced down the alley, running fast enough to extinguish the small flicker of hope it had sparked.

Yami stared into the darkness as he approached the Kame Game Shop.

"I could have sworn I saw a cat on the doorstep," Yami said as he entered the Mutou's apartment.

"We just met an eight foot tall goddess with a cat head who gave you your own body and put one of our friends in a coma. I'm surprised we're not seeing cats everywhere we go," Yugi pointed out.

"I guess you're right," Yami said, but he couldn't resist taking one backwards glance at the empty street outside before he closed the door.

* * *

.

**_Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter and encouraging me, always._ **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Writing this chapter was a bit of a balancing act. I think Yugi's friends would want to help Kaiba – after all, they dash off to save him pretty regularly in the series. But I think some of them would find rescuing Kaiba easier than being friends with him. Anzu frequently gets frustrated by Kaiba's screw you attitude and the way he treats his life so carelessly. Jounouchi is the one to tell Yami in Noa's world that he's willing to risk being turned to stone rather than abandon Kaiba. But at the same time, he gets angry at the dismissive way Kaiba treats him.

I'm not sure, even after Noa's World, that any of the gang (except maybe Yugi and Yami) have ever thought about why Kaiba's the distrustful, aloof, friendship-what's-that jerk they come to know, which makes sense given that they've been on the receiving end of his sneering comments. So I think there's a real back and forth to how they feel about Kaiba and while I wanted to show them being willing to help him, I also wanted their feelings to be complicated by Kaiba's own abrasive personality. I started to feel like Goldilocks because the first version was too mean and the second was too nice. So, I'd really like to know how you think that part of it worked out.

_Note to Jeanna:_ Thank you! I agree – a Hello Kitty crossover with Kaiba would be hilarious!

**Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._


	3. Look What the Cat Dragged In

**CHAPTER 3: LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN**

Kaiba wanted to write last night off as a weird dream – but he didn't believe in dreams. He never had before, and saw no reason to change. Instead, he started sifting the events of the previous night through his mind. He stopped, gagging, wishing that he could vomit up the sudden swirl of emotions, the overpowering sense of helplessness that threatened to eat its way through his guts. He thrashed on the bed, vaguely aware of Mokuba in the chair next to him; he was thankful that Mokuba was asleep and unaware.

Last night, Kaiba had been forced to drink in every hated measure of defenselessness that he'd ever experienced. Now, reliving it, he felt just as violated. He'd sworn never to let anyone make him feel that vulnerable again, yet another vow that turned out to be beyond his power to keep. Last night, he'd been an unwanted six year old again, watching his father stumble into the house late at night, too blinded by grief to see his children, an unwanted eight year old, dumped at the orphanage with his brother like a pair of stray dogs… the unwanted ten year old who'd met Gozaburo and learned what true powerlessness was.

"Hurting you wasn't my purpose." Bastet's voice was – for her – gentle.

Kaiba snarled, "Don't flatter yourself. There's nothing you can dish out that I can't take, no matter what kind of head games you try to play."

"Not everything is a game, hard as that is for you to accept." She shook her head. "You can't keep pushing all your emotions away."

"Why not? It's worked for me so far," Kaiba jeered.

"Has it? The harder you fight them, the stronger their hold on you becomes. You're close to suffocating under the weight of all the things you refuse to feel."

Kaiba maintained a sullen silence. He wanted to argue, but he wasn't sure what to say, especially to a being that seemed able to read his mind well enough to detect the bullshit in whatever rebuttal he made. Somewhere along the way, the life he had so carefully constructed had turned into a labyrinth, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find the blueprint or key. Sometimes being Seto Kaiba was exhausting. Somehow, Bastet knew that. It was intolerable.

"I'll never forgive you," he said, his words all the more vehement because they were quietly spoken. "If I ever have a chance for revenge, I'll take it, if it's the last thing I do."

"I know."

The sadness in her voice managed to pierce his anger and resentment. He didn't reply.

After a pause she added, "You may want to consider, now that you have use of your faculties again, that you faced all of the helplessness and despair you felt as a child – and once again you have survived. Painful emotions are not the only ones the world has to offer. But you can't experience one unless you are willing to accept the other."

"Of course I survived. It's what I do best – besides outwitting my enemies," he said, ignoring the second half of her speech.

Kaiba smiled in satisfaction when she refused to answer. The silence stretched between them. Kaiba hated Bastet, but he didn't mind having her around to spar with. He was tired of being alone with his thoughts. The presence of an enemy was bracing, even paradoxically comforting; it was good to have someone…

"To sharpen your claws against?" Bastet finished his thought aloud. A note of amused malice was back in her voice as if the softer tones had never been spoken or heard.

Kaiba didn't trust Bastet, but their exchange had steadied him. And now that he was calmer, he was relieved to realize that, as Bastet had promised, his eidetic memory still functioned as well as it always had – even if it had much less material to work with than usual. When he searched his mind for thoughts or conclusions he drew a blank. Only images and the emotions that went with them remained, and he was prepared for them now. Since they were all he had to work with, he sorted through them, trying to find a pattern to analyze.

Everything had looked laughably, surreally big – or else he had been obscenely small. He seemed to have been standing on four _paws_ ; he'd caught glimpses of them when he'd looked down. When he'd grown annoyed he had a tail to twitch (something he refused to see as an improvement on the human equivalent of drumming his fingers on his desk.)

There was one impossible, inescapable conclusion…

"God or not, I'm going to kill you for turning me into a cat!"

"I fail to understand the objection," Bastet replied. Her eyes were shining with an impish glee that could be seen even in the darkness that surrounded Kaiba.

As furious as he was, Kaiba couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping. "I bet you don't."

"I'm glad you agree," Bastet said.

"The hell I do, you bitch!"

She sighed with exaggerated patience. Kaiba ground his teeth at the sound.

"No dog insults. They pain me. Besides, everything I'm doing is for your own good," she said, smugly.

Kaiba snorted. "Bullshit. If I listened to what people say, everything that anyone's ever done to me has been for my own good."

"And you've met no exceptions?"

"Not until I was big and powerful enough that people tried to destroy me to my face instead of behind my back. Before that… I was supposed to leave Mokuba in an orphanage without a backwards glance for my own good. I was supposed to become Gozaburo's soulless puppet for my own good – or Kaiba Corporation's, it came to the same thing with Gozaburo. Why should I believe you? It's never true."

"What of the pharaoh? In the aftermath of Death-T, everything he did turned out to be for your own good, didn't it?"

Kaiba snorted. "Yami wasn't trying to help. He was trying to hit me where it hurts and he succeeded."

"How did you know that his name is 'Yami?'" Bastet asked, a slight lilt in her voice.

"He told me. What does it matter?"

"Really? When?"

Kaiba paused. He'd been unconscious. Logically, he shouldn't have understood anything Yami had said. But Yami's voice had been urgent; it had managed to pierce the haze that was surrounding him. Yami had wanted his rival to know his name that badly. And Kaiba had heard him.

Bastet purred, a smooth, self-satisfied sound. "Are you're still so sure that even back then, he didn't want to help?"

Kaiba frowned, remembering. Death-T had ended. He'd lost. He'd stood in the darkness waiting for death. Yami had said he'd hated Kaiba; he'd sworn never to forgive. It was time for him to make good on his promises.

Yami had marched right into his mind. Kaiba had been chasing power his whole life, but this was something far beyond conventional might. Yami had invaded the innermost, secret center of his being, an intrusion so great that Kaiba could only stand there, stunned, watching.

Then his world had shattered. For a minute, he'd been convinced that he'd died. The truth had been infinitely better and unimaginably more shameful. He'd been broken back to himself, as easily as you'd crack an egg to find the yolk inside. But once broken, he'd been able to rebuild.

Painful as it had been – and humiliating as it was to acknowledge that someone had held that kind of power over him – it had been exactly what he'd needed. Kaiba never denied the truth, no matter how bitter.

There was no logical reason why Yami should have cared what happened to him, or why at this late date, Kaiba would want him to. But now that it had entered his mind, Kaiba couldn't quite shake the suspicion (he refused to dignify it by calling it a hope) that right from the beginning it had mattered to Yami whether Kaiba lived or died – and even more importantly – whether he lived and died with honor.

Despite all the times that Yami had told Kaiba he respected him, despite all the times Yami had insisted that they were friends, Kaiba had never quite believed him. Now he wondered if he'd simply been shutting his eyes and then announcing it was too dark to see.

Kaiba looked around with a start. While he'd been thinking about Yami, Bastet had slipped away.

Mokuba opened his eyes and stretched in the cramped chair. It had seemed comfortable enough when he'd fallen asleep sometime in the middle of the night. He leaned forward and hesitantly shook his brother's shoulder.

"Wake up, Nisama," he said.

There was no change. It was just like Death-T. Only this time his brother had done everything right. He'd been fighting to save them all. He was the only one who'd managed to keep his head when Yami had suddenly appeared and his reward for all of that was to have some crazy cat-goddess throw him into a coma while Yugi and Jounouchi got off scot-free and Yami even got a body out of the deal.

"It's not fair… it's not fair… it's not fair!" he yelled.

Mokuba glanced at the bed, half expecting his brother to wake up just so that he could remind Mokuba that life wasn't fair, that whining about it didn't help, that all that mattered was fighting life on your terms and winning.

But his brother was silent. It was one more proof that this was all real. Kaiba's forehead wrinkled, his lips turned down, almost like he knew how upset Mokuba was.

"It's okay, Nisama," Mokuba said, forcing a soothing tone into his voice. He grabbed Kaiba's hand. "I miss you. I'll wait for you. Yugi and his friends are going to do everything they can. I'm sure they can find a way out of this. It's their fault too. Don't worry."

Mokuba smiled as his brother's face relaxed; it made it feel like, despite everything, they were still connected.

Yugi and Yami were also waking up and trying to avoid bumping into each other; the cot set up hurriedly in Yugi's room had made it even more crowded. Yami had gotten dressed. He'd borrowed a clean T-shirt and underwear; he was still in the pants and copy of Yugi's jacket that he'd been wearing during their duel.

"Are you going back to Kaiba's?" Yugi asked as Yami put his boots on; they were also a duplicate of Yugi's.

Yami nodded glumly. For once, he let his shoulders slump as he shook his head. "I don't want to leave Mokuba alone… and I feel better, sitting there."

"Poor Mokuba."

Yami pushed himself off the wall and paced the narrow alley between his makeshift, hastily added bed and Yugi's older, more familiar one. "He's angry. I let his brother down."

"You didn't!" Yugi insisted.

Yami looked at him and Yugi was reminded of the laser-sharp glare that accompanied all their duels.

"What would you call it? Kaiba was my rival but he was also my friend. How many times – at Battle City, in his stepbrother's accursed virtual world, fighting DOMA – would I have gone on to defeat without Kaiba challenging me? I swore after DOMA that was never happening again, and I let him slip through my fingers one more time. And the worst thing is: I think he was expecting it. But he's wrong. Trust is more than a word. I'm his friend. I'll always be there for him. It's time he knew that. I'm going to keep after him until he does."

"So you want him to wake up just so you can lecture him?" Yugi asked.

"Maybe," Yami answered with a reluctant grin.

The walk to the mansion was peaceful. He nodded to the butler who let him in and ran up the stairs to Kaiba's bedroom. He smiled at the sight of Mokuba holding his brother's hands.

Mokuba looked up. "Have you found a way to fix this?"

"Not yet," Yami said as he sat down next to Mokuba by Kaiba's bed.

"I thought you'd have figured it out by now! Why did you bother coming, then?"

"Your brother is my friend." Yami shrugged slightly. "I feel closer to him, here. Yesterday, at times, it almost felt like he was with us, like he knew what was going on."

Mokuba looked down; he nodded quickly.

"Maybe he knows I'm here. That I care," Yami said.

He cared more than he had realized, Yami thought as he sat there staring at Kaiba's unresponsive face. Kaiba was his rival and his friend. But in that abandoned warehouse, he'd suddenly become aware of himself as a person, as more than Yugi's partner… and Kaiba had been in his arms. Holding Kaiba had felt right, like it was what he was meant to do. He hadn't wanted to surrender his rival – even to Mokuba and Isono.

He reached out and stroked Kaiba's hair, surprised by the sudden flash of possession jolting through his system. He glanced at Mokuba, then dropped his hand to briefly clasp Kaiba's shoulder.

"I'm here," he said, not sure if he was reminding Kaiba or himself of his existence.

Yami was right about one thing. Kaiba was aware of his presence.

Awake, Kaiba didn't like being touched. The memories it brought up were rarely pleasant. Now, Kaiba found it unexpectedly soothing. He was aware of Yami's voice. Given how often he'd taunted Yami for his pompous speeches, he was surprised to find that he liked the sound of it. The urgent tones warmed him, reminded him that he was alive, that Yami was waiting for him to wake up so that their rivalry could continue. Kaiba wished he could answer Yami, even if it was only with a jibe or a grunt, but he knew his rival's name now… and that was, barely, enough.

Jounouchi was worried to find Yami still there when he arrived for what he had started to think of as his shift a little later in the day.

"What are you still doing here?"

"Sitting," Yami answered with a grin. "Besides, Mokuba had to go take care of some business at Kaiba Corporation."

"I'm serious, Yami. What about when the kid gets back? What's it going to take for you to do some hard-core partying?"

"Kaiba waking up."

"Dude, you have your own body! You could go anywhere and do anything you wanted. I can't stand watching you waste a minute of it!"

"I'm not. Jounouchi, being here for Kaiba is what I want to do. You have to accept that I know my own mind. Kaiba is my friend. How dare you suggest I abandon him? If he's to have any chance at all…"

"That crazy cat lady said it was his fault he'd wound up like this," Jounouchi said. Despite his best efforts, Jounouchi sounded defensive.

"It was our fault as well and you know it," Yami said. "Yes, I have a life. Have you forgotten it's an existence Kaiba helped me to gain? I'm not beginning that life by turning my back on a friend. When he wakes up, we can celebrate together."

Jounouchi frowned. He had to hand it to Yami. No one was better at handing your head to you – and having it be for your own good.

Mokuba's reappearance ended the argument, although Jounouchi wondered uneasily how much – if anything – he'd heard.

Anzu and Yugi came by after Jounouchi's somewhat abrupt exit. Anzu sat down and smiled at Kaiba. He didn't react. He wouldn't have smiled back even if he had been awake, Anzu thought glumly. She wished someone would say something to break the tension, but no one did. So she just kept smiling fixedly at Kaiba until her expression lost any claim to genuineness and was merely a tribute to her stubbornness in refusing to let the corners of her mouth droop.

Anzu couldn't help but notice that Mokuba was obviously unimpressed with her efforts. As soon as she'd walked through the door, he'd fixed puppy-dog eyes on her as if waiting for her to wave a wand and save his brother. Then his gaze had hardened to a hostile glare that matched anything his brother had ever thrown her way, before softening into hopeful anxiety. And then, the cycle had started again. Anzu couldn't decide which of his expressions made her feel worse.

She drew in a breath and sobbed. "I don't know how to fix this. I can't even talk to him!"

Yugi held her hand. "It's okay, Anzu."

"No, it isn't," Mokuba hissed back, furiously.

"He's right, Yugi. I'm letting everyone down. You know I want to help, Mokuba…" Anzu broke off and ran from the room. Yugi followed.

"It really will be okay," he said, hugging her.

"How can you keep saying that?" she asked, leaning her head down to rest it on his shoulder.

"Because no matter what happens, we always end up seeing each other through it. We'll do it again."

Anzu smiled against his shoulder. "You've grown up so much. Sometimes I can't believe you're the same boy who needed me to defend you."

Yugi grinned back. "I've had a lot of help along the way. And I still need you to defend me, any time you want… honest! Come on. Let me walk you home. You look like you can use some fresh air."

They said their goodbyes quickly. Yami accompanied them to the door then went back to Kaiba's room. He left as night fell and walked back to the game shop. He let his shoulders sag with weariness; there was no one to see. He straightened up only as he approached home. At odd moments during the day, he'd found himself wondering if there really had been a cat waiting for him on his doorstep, or if – as Yugi had suggested – it had been a mirage.

This time there was no doubt.

It was a half-starved, half-grown alley cat. It had left the cuddly cuteness of kitten-hood far behind, although Yami doubted the gangly creature on his doorstep had ever been appealing in the first place. The cat walked with the stiff legged gait of an adolescent tom; his silver-gray coat gave him a faintly reptilian look in the fading light. His only attractive feature was a pair of impossibly blue eyes – and they were narrowed in anger.

It was the kind of animal you just knew was never going to be adopted. Yami watched it circle the sidewalk in front of the apartment entrance next to the game shop before sitting and glaring at Yami as if annoyed at being kept waiting for an appointment that could only result in disappointment anyway. It was amazing, Yami thought, how clearly he could tell that the cat expected him to go into the house and slam the door in its face. Something about the wary, proud way it waited for rejection made Yami decide to hold the door open instead.

Besides, cats were the emissaries of Bastet, the goddess of joy and love, and Yami didn't want to take any chances.

"It looks like someone followed you home," Yugi said as Yami entered.

"He was on the doorstep," Yami said. He looked the cat over now that they were in the brightly lit hallway. The clear light didn't help. None of the traditional words he'd heard used to describe kittens – like adorable or cute – seemed to apply to the beast that had managed to slink into the house without losing its arrogant air.

"He's got pretty eyes," Yugi said, his voice rising just enough to turn his sentence into a question.

"Yes, he does," Yami said gratefully. "I hope it's okay," he added as Sugoroku came into the hallway.

A dog would have had the sense to look beseechingly at them, begging with eyes stretched to their widest for a taste of the dinner that could be clearly scented from the kitchen. A dog would have wagged its tail and flattened its ears to the ground submissively.

This cat was clearly lacking in dog sense – or possibly any in sense at all. The eyes they'd just complimented narrowed to slits. Its tail was twitching in annoyance rather than wagging, and if its head was slightly lowered, that was only because it was deciding whether to attack.

Yami chuckled, finding its stupid, stubborn surliness, its eagerness to choose defiance over food, unexpectedly enchanting.

Yugi's grandfather had always thought of himself as a cat person. Sugoroku had to admit though that he'd seldom seen a less appealing feline than the one crouched in his hallway, glaring at him from slitted eyes as if the cat owned the place and _he_ was the intruder. But the look on Yami's face was nervous and hopeful and so damn young that Sugoroku knew he was defeated, even before he heard Yami laugh. He'd never heard Yam's laugh before – not in all the times he'd seen the young man duel in his grandson's place, not in the days since he'd gained a body. It was as if the price Kaiba had paid had taken the joy out of the gift.

If this belligerent animal could cheer Yami up…

"In the morning it goes to the vet for shots and a flea collar. We'd better find a cardboard box it can use as a litter box for the night," Sugoroku said, having learned over the years when to bow to the inevitable.

"I'll go for cat food and kitty litter," Yugi volunteered as he headed out the door.

Yami looked at Sugoroku, who sighed in response. "All right, it can have some left-over chicken."

Yami and the cat ate together. After dinner, Yami took his new pet upstairs. He was glad Yugi was watching television with his grandfather; the cat was skittish, he might settle down easier if it was just the two of them.

Yami's grip on the frantically squirming creature slipped as they reached his room. The cat bolted inside. Yami followed. He smiled as the cat stalked around the room, sniffing into corners, warily scanning for traps and overseeing its new domain all at the same time.

"You're an arrogant little thing aren't you? I bet you don't even know you're just a half-grown ball of fluff," Yami said as he scooped the cat up and dropped it on his cot. He reached out to pet the beast. The cat reacted instantly, arching its back and swiping at the hand moving towards its head. Yami jerked back his hand as the cat's claws found their target.

He stared at the hissing cat; every bristle of short gray fur was standing on end. Yami glanced down at his stinging hand. The bleeding had stopped. The scratch was long but shallow; the cat's claws hadn't reached their full adult hardness yet. Yami sat back on the cot and leaned against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief when the cat relaxed as well.

"You know all too well what it's like to be totally defenseless and unprotected don't you? And you hate it." Yami chuckled. "I don't blame you. I'd feel the same. I might even lash out at anyone who reminded me of just how small I was – although I hope I'd have more self-control."

The cat sank into the cot. Yami wondered if he'd noticed the softness of the blankets. It was hard to tell. The cat was staring at him unblinkingly, but his narrowed blue eyes were curiously opaque.

"You don't have to worry. You're mine now. I'll take care of you," Yami promised.

Unfortunately the cat didn't seem to have shared Yami's conviction that he'd found a home. He found a way to escape during the night. At least, that's what Yami, Yugi and Sugoroku decided when the cat was gone in the morning.

* * *

**_._ **

**_Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter._ **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I've always been a sucker for fairy tales where one of the characters gets turned into a bear or a swan or even a frog – especially those sundown to sun-up deals. The characters in those stories usually stay themselves mentally, not matter how much their bodies have changed, but since this story is about emotions to a large extent, I wanted to put Kaiba in a situation where logic and strategic planning and all the tools he uses wouldn't be at his disposal for at least part of the time.

If you're going to turn a character into a cat, it's always a temptation to make them a fluffy kitten – except I can't imagine putting "Kaiba" and "fluffy" in the same sentence unless there's a "not" in there somewhere. And when I thought about the kind of cat Kaiba might become, a snarly, half-grown alley cat that's been kicked around once too often was what came to mind. I really tried to have the cat be recognizable as Kaiba while keeping him a cat. I'd love to know if that worked or not.

_Note to Desidera:_ I left a longer answer on my LieJournal, but if you see this: Of course I remember you!

_Note to Cera:_ Thanks! I left a fuller answer on my Livejournal account. I went with third person instead of first person narration mainly because Kaiba is a cat for part of the story, and I sometimes wanted to describe what the cat was feeling – but having a cat actually narrate seemed a bit too far even for me (lol).

_Note to Michelle:_ Yes, I'm definitely planning on finishing!

**Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._


	4. It's a CATastrophe

**MANGA NOTE:** One of the most chilling frames in the manga is from Kaiba's childhood. You see him feverishly studying while wearing a dog collar. Gozaburo is standing behind Seto, laughing while holding up his head with a riding crop. It's a seriously creepy moment.

* * *

 

**CHAPTER 4: IT'S** **A _CAT_ ASTROPHE**

In Kaiba's experience, people cheated differently when they'd never known anything but power. They didn't cheat out of a desperation so strong that the stench of it stayed in your nostrils… instead they cheated easily, almost playfully; it was just another birthright.

Bastet had told him he could spend the days puzzling out what had happened the night before. He'd known she was lying. The catch in Bastet's promise had been a simple one. He'd discovered it the moment he'd regained human awareness and tried to sort through his memories of the previous night. Unlike his expectations, he hadn't simply been able to hit "rewind" and "play" before settling down to view a series of high definition images.

The emotions were there. Kaiba had thought he was prepared – only to be thrown by an unexpected, unsettling feeling of hope. It collided instantly with the unshakeable belief that betrayal would follow giving in as naturally as day had followed night. He gagged as the seesawing mix of emotions roiled through him. It was all oddly familiar, but Kaiba couldn't place it beyond the vague recognition that he'd felt this way before. He'd spent his lifetime discounting his emotions; he was out of practice at reading them.

He tried to focus on the images from the night before, but it was impossible. His cat's eye view of the world just didn't meld with his human consciousness. The pictures were stored somewhere in his brain as Bastet had promised, but without a context to drop them into, they remained inaccessible. Something about the night, beyond the mix of emotions, had seemed familiar. He couldn't say why.

He ploughed ahead stubbornly, trying to latch on to any memory that would help. But the one thing that surfaced wasn't an image at all. He could remember the smell and taste of chicken. It had been heavenly. And yet, delicious as it was, it hadn't been a meal prepared and seasoned by a professional chef. It had been something someone's mom would have made.

He finally placed that elusive smell, a trail that led still further into his past. Without warning, he was a five year old boy playing with his Legos on the floor, sometime before Mokuba was born. He'd been totally absorbed in his construction project – up until the moment when the smell of chicken had reached his nostrils. One whiff and he was immediately impatient for dinner, running into the kitchen as fast as his legs could carry him… running to his mother.

It was funny how he'd lost his appetite in the intervening years, how food had simply become nutrients to be consumed at the proper time. Once chicken had meant safety and home and all the things he'd stopped believing in.

He scowled at the darkness surrounding him, annoyed at how easily he'd let himself be distracted by a stray memory, especially one he hadn't thought of in years since it, like the notion of safety, had no place in his life any more. But when he went back to review the previous night again, he realized another memory had surfaced. He'd been surrounded by these huge alien shapes. He grinned, somewhat amused, despite his predicament, that this is what humans must have looked like to him. There had been a lot of them. That should have spelt danger. Although he was faster and more agile, they had been so big; they could have easily killed him. But they hadn't. Instead they seemed associated with the smell of food. Kaiba wondered if they'd fed him, but that seemed unlikely. Possibly they'd gone about their business while he'd been distracted by the smell of their dinner through a half open window.

Kaiba smiled in satisfaction. He'd made some progress this morning, if one ignored the odd tangent of suddenly remembering his mother's cooking. He'd managed to retrieve a memory from the night before – even if it had been an unclear and useless one. But any more research into last night would have to wait. Mokuba had just stretched in his chair and opened his eyes.

Mokuba had refused to sleep in his own bed. It didn't feel right to be all comfy, tucked in under a cloud of blankets when his brother was in trouble. He wanted to be strong like his Nisama had taught him to be. He'd tried to hide his fears as best he could, even from Yugi and the gang, to be as badass as his brother, at least when any one could see… but he was alone now, except for the brother who wasn't awake to chide him, even if he cried.

At that thought, Mokuba broke. He sobbed until he could no longer sit up, not caring how loud his howls got, not even pausing to wipe his running nose, barely noticing as his throat started to ache. He felt better, or at least quieter, when he finished, almost drained enough to go back to sleep.

It had only been a couple of days. But somehow, seeing his brother like this had made the last year and a half vanish, and Mokuba was a kid again, sitting at his brother's bedside in the months following Death-T, waiting for him to wake up… unsure that those blue eyes would ever open again… uncertain who to trust: the brother that had tried to kill him or the man who had rescued them both.

Kaiba could hear Mokuba crying. And he couldn't do a thing about it. Throughout the years so many things had kept him apart from his brother, even when they'd been walking side by side. Now Kaiba was less than a foot away, with all the time in the world and nothing to fill it with – and he couldn't reach out to hug his brother.

He also heard when the sobs stopped and the steel came back into Mokuba's voice.

"I hate this! When Yugi and the gang showed up, I figured everything was on the way to being fixed. But Yami were Yugi are as clueless as you always said they were; Anzu spent yesterday crying about how useless she is and all Jounouchi could go on about was how Yami might miss a movie like that mattered more than you!" Mokuba lowered his voice and muttered, "Yami might as well go out partying and take the rest of those worthless idiots with him. It's not like they're doing any good, anyway." Mokuba got out of his chair, unable to sit a minute longer. "Fuck Bastet. She better not show her face around here unless she wants to find out if curiosity really does kill the cat."

He stopped as his brother moved restlessly on the bed, his face drawn, his hands clenched, muscles tense and twitching.

Kaiba recognized the bone-deep fury in Mokuba's voice. It matched his own rage-filled tirades. He'd never heard Mokuba sound like that before though, and Kaiba couldn't help wondering if Mokuba's anger was new, or if he'd never stopped moving long enough to hear it before.

Mokuba was so furious over what had happened he was blaming everyone in sight. If Kaiba had been awake and everything had been business as usual, he would have cut the conversation off before it could begin. He might even, Kaiba admitted to himself reluctantly, have gotten mad at Mokuba's presumption in thinking he needed help. It was like a beagle rushing out to defend a wolfhound. No, Kaiba thought with an inward smile: Mokuba was a pit bull, not a beagle. Small as he was, he'd learned how to bite deep and hang on. And that suddenly – the heat in Mokuba's voice warmed Kaiba as well.

Mokuba reached over and gently opened one of his brother's hands and clasped it.

"It's okay. You saved us all. I just want you back. And you can do it all on your own without them. You're the best brother ever."

Mokuba wondered if there really was a slight smile on his brother's lips or if it was a trick of the light.

As much as Mokuba resented the gang for being awake when his brother wasn't, it was almost a relief when Yami arrived. He even managed to work up a small smile when Jounouchi appeared a half hour later.

Jounouchi had only the best of intentions when he walked into Kaiba's bedroom. But when he saw Yami, sitting in what had already become his place by Kaiba's bedside, he couldn't help but groan, "Not again. I know you want to help him, but take a break, Yami. Kaiba will still be here if you went out to a movie or an arcade or something."

"Did you come over to help my brother or did you want to chat with Yami and you figure Nisama's some kind of odd room decoration?" Mokuba asked sarcastically.

Jounouchi's face turned red. It was hard to tell if he was flushed with embarrassment or anger. "I got wound up seeing Yami stuck here day after day."

"My brother's the one in the coma and you're sad that _Yami's_ stuck here? Well, both of you can leave!"

"Calm yourself," Yami ordered. "We need to solve this puzzle if your brother is to wake up. I have no intention of abandoning him and if I understood Bastet correctly, you need our help. Going it alone is your brother's mistake; it's his contribution to this sorry mess. You better be prepared to acknowledge that – and accept all offers of help, whether they're phrased in the way you want or not."

Mokuba scowled at Jounouchi. "Help?" he asked – and the one word was a challenge.

Jounouchi flushed again, and then was angry with himself for feeling defensive. Even a baby Kaiba was a pain, he thought resentfully.

"Look kid, if there was something I could think of to do, I would. Your brother's never been the flavor of the month with me, but that doesn't mean I was rooting for him to end up like this."

"Doesn't it? I heard at Duelists Kingdom you said he deserved it when Pegasus stole his soul! Maybe you're the reason he's still in a coma!"

"He'd just tried to kill me and my friends! Of course I was mad! That doesn't mean I still feel that way. Damn. I don't know how I feel – and right now, that's the best I can do. Your brother's a monumental jerk, and him lying here doesn't change that."

Mokuba turned away. He wanted to throw Jounouchi out of the room. He didn't care that his brother had insulted Jounouchi every time they'd met. He didn't see why he had to worry about niceties like fairness when no one else cared that what had happened to his brother was totally, fucking _unfair_. Mokuba glared out the window – it seemed safer than looking at Jounouchi.

Jounouchi looked from Mokuba to Yami and then back to Kaiba. He shook his head and frowned. He'd never meant to upset the kid. Unfortunately that was when Jounouchi decided a little humor would help defuse the situation. He shook Kaiba's shoulder. "Hey, wake up sleepyhead!"

Mokuba turned from the window to glare at him in disbelief.

"Wait, I know what works on me when I fall asleep in class…" Jounouchi added as he jammed his fingers into Kaiba's side. "Come on, uppy… uppy… uppy! Wow… did you ever think I'd get to take a poke at Kaiba without getting my ass kicked?"

"Nisama always said you were a bully at heart," Mokuba said in the coldest, flattest voice Jounouchi had ever heard him use.

"Lighten up, kid. And you're brother's wrong about me, not that he's right on much of anything else."

"You know why he always sneered at you? He said you reminded him of the kids at the orphanage, the ones who got off on picking on anyone littler than them, just so they'd feel bigger themselves. He said that he could smell the blood on your fists."

Jounouchi scowled. He could remember all the times he'd roughed Yugi up, how he'd stolen his Puzzle piece just to see if he'd cry.

"He wasn't wrong, was he? I can see it in your face," Mokuba said, as relentless as his older brother when he smelled blood in the water.

"He wasn't wrong about the guy I'd been before we'd ever met. But damn straight he's wrong about me now. The hell with you and your brother and this whole charade!" Jounouchi yelled, slamming the door as he left the room.

"You might as well go, too, Yami. Go out and party like Jounouchi said. I don't know why you're here and this isn't going to work. If you guys really cared, my brother would be awake," Mokuba said.

Yami ignored him.

"Well?" Mokuba hissed, his eyes narrowed in challenge.

"Your brother is my friend. Jounouchi will come around. You can use the time until he does to learn some patience."

"Nobody but my brother gets to tell me what to do! "

Yami smiled. "You sound like Kaiba at Battle City."

"Well, who else should I sound like?"

"He said that my definition of partnership was him following my orders," Yami continued.

"I know what he said. I was the Battle City Commissioner remember? I saw feeds of all the duels," Mokuba snapped.

"Then you know how hard it was for your brother to hold his temper, to be part of a team. But he did it for you. I've always respected your brother but I've rarely been prouder of him than on that day."

"Why are you blaming me? It was all Jounouchi!"

"No, it wasn't. I've watched your brother struggle to rise above his own hatred and anger. Can you do less? In your own fear and bitterness, you lost sight of the most important point: Jounouchi didn't know that I was here. He didn't come for me; he came to help."

"He doesn't care if my brother ever wakes up. Not really."

"I don't know how Jounouchi feels. I suspect, neither does he. He's never had to think about it before. No one wants to let you down."

"You should all be worried about letting my brother down instead!"

"Your brother isn't the one glaring at us through tears while waiting for us to fail." Yami gave a short, choked off laugh. "If anything, your brother would be surprised anyone showed up at all. That's part of the problem." He turned back to Kaiba and held his hand. "I'm here, Kaiba. I'm here. Take as long as you need until you can believe that."

"You really care about him, don't you?" Mokuba asked quietly.

Yami nodded. "I didn't realize how much. I think one needs to have a body to be truly alive." He turned to Kaiba again. "For the first time, I have a future. I can see it, stretching out in all directions. It's wondrous." He chuckled. "We argue every time we meet. Why do I feel like you'll understand? Maybe it's because you see the future as something worth fighting for, even when you get consumed by the battle. I never understood why it was so important to you. Now I know. And you were right." He chuckled again and put his hand on top of Kaiba's. "I have to believe that wherever you're wandering now, part of you just heard me admit that you beat me at something – and you did it in style."

Mokuba knew enough to stay quiet, to let Yami continue to hold his brother's hand and talk. His smile was genuinely grateful when Yami finally got up to leave, once again refusing the offer of a ride home.

The cat was waiting when Yami reached the game shop; a faint blur of silver-gray, half hidden by the night.

"It's good to see you," Yami said. He held the door open.

The cat hesitated, then entered, wary of the promise of safety that seemed to exist, like a mirage, just over the threshold. The cat might not know much, but it knew this: it was when you felt safe that the blow inevitably fell.

But the part of him that couldn't think, that couldn't do anything but feel, no matter how hard he tried, that treacherous part liked this house with its promise of food and warmth and a word he would never have called to mind, even if he was in his normal form: comfort.

Even the voice speaking to him was carefully quiet. The cat relaxed into the soothing sounds, unable to understand the words, as Yami said, "You don't look like you have fleas, but Ji-chan says this will make you more comfortable."

He shut his eyes in pleasure and leaned into that voice. That was when the heavy collar slammed around his neck. He knew collars; the harsh leather bit into your neck when you tried to sleep. The inside was so rough it might as well been lined with sandpaper, a constant chafing reminder of bondage and humiliation and pain. It was only a matter of time before it was yanked suffocatingly tight, before the blows fell… before he was punished for daring to exist.

The cat tensed, then hissed, his entire body radiating fury at this house for betraying its promise of sanctuary and at himself for forgetting… everything. He launched himself forward, wanting only escape.

A large hostile presence barred the way out. He launched himself at his enemy, claws outstretched, knowing only that life was battle and that losing was death. It darted out of his way. He gained the hallway, skidded into another room, aware only of his need to be free of this place with its entwined promises of comfort and betrayal.

"Where's he gone?" Yugi asked worriedly as he ran past Jounouchi and Anzu back into the living room with Yami on his heels.

Yami scanned the room. "He's not here." Yami spotted a slightly open window. "Could he have jumped out before we came in? It doesn't seem like he had enough time."

"He must have gotten out somehow," Yugi pointed out.

Yami opened the window and shut it. "He's not outside. It's like last night. He just disappeared."

"Good riddance," Jounouchi said as he entered the room.

"Yami likes him," Anzu pointed out, following Jounouchi and swatting him on the arm.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes at her tone – and her readiness to smack him. It was a shame she was an only child; she would have made the perfect big sister.

"Yami couldn't like that nasty beast. He just feels sorry for it. Forget about it already. C'mon Yugi, let's play," Jounouchi said, grabbing a game controller.

"Stop it Jounouchi!" Anzu scolded. She snatched the controller out of his hands and pointing it threateningly at him. "He's just a baby. He probably doesn't even have a home."

"I'm not surprised if this is how he acts. Didn't you see him take a swipe at me? If I hadn't jumped I'd be bleeding all over Yugi's floor by now!" Jounouchi objected.

"Are you telling me you're afraid of a little, bitty kitten?" Anzu said.

"I'm telling you, there's something creepy about that cat."

* * *

 

.

**_Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter and helping me hash out cat memory transference._ **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** To everyone who asked what Kaiba would be able to remember – I hope this chapter gave some answers. Thanks, it really helped me work out what I needed to say to make things clearer.

Thanks to Indigo_8 for catching a missing word in the previous chapter.

**Mokuba Note:** I can see Mokuba being better able to trust – and certainly more willing to beg for help – than his elder brother. But I also think it's likely that his belief in other people's willingness to help them would be kind of fragile, because people being genuinely concerned with their welfare hasn't really been part of the Kaiba brothers' lives. Ironically, the fact that Mokuba is more able to trust can be attributed directly to Kaiba, himself. For as long as he could, Kaiba put Mokuba first, and up until Death-T, and after, was someone Mokuba could depend on. So when he was faced with a setback, I could see Mokuba falling back into the belief that he and his brother are on their own.

**Jounouchi Note:** Although Mokuba wouldn't agree, I think Jounouchi's attitude is pretty reasonable. Of course he's more concerned with Yami than with Kaiba – Yami's one of his best friends. I find writing the dynamic between Kaiba and Yugi's friends to be a bit of a balancing act. I don't want to make it seem that they dislike him unreasonably, or that they don't care if he lives or dies – after all, in the series (especially in the anime) they spend a lot of time rescuing him. On the other hand, it makes perfect sense that they'd be feeling something less than hearts and bunnies when they think of him since he insults them every time they meet. One thing that made me want to write this story is that it gave me a chance to explore that split, that while Kaiba demonstrably has a lot to learn about recognizing friendship when it's coming to his rescue over and over, the gang also has to decide whether they can accept the reluctant ally they seem to have acquired.

**_Note to Guest:_** Thank you! I wanted to keep that sense that Kaiba was someone who had to fight to survive and I though turning him into a stray cat sort of underscored that.

**Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._

 


	5. The Cat's Out of the Bag

**MANGA NOTE:** One of the most chilling frames in the manga is from Kaiba's childhood. You see him feverishly studying while wearing a dog collar. Gozaburo is standing behind Seto, laughing while holding up his head with a riding crop. It's a seriously creepy moment.

* * *

 

**CHAPTER 5: THE CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG**

The next morning, it didn't take Kaiba long to realize that something had gone horribly wrong the night before. The house had been warm. He'd strolled in like he belonged, as if he'd been walking into the home he barely remembered, the one that had existed before his mother's death. That house had been warm, too. He should have expected pain, betrayal and humiliation to follow. Hell, maybe he had right from the moment he'd walked through the door.

At least he'd learned something from the whole debacle. Kaiba had been grimly determined to put up with whatever indignities this game heaped upon him, at least until he figured out how to beat it. But he'd learned something useful last night: there was a way out. If he tried, he could just disappear and wait out the night in blessed unconsciousness.

"Yes, if you fight hard enough, if you refuse to accept what you're feeling, your cat form will vanish, but that will delay your return," Bastet cautioned. "You're smart enough to understand the longer you fight against this, the longer you stay in this state."

"I don't care!" Kaiba yelled, not caring that he sounded more like a four-year old in mid-tantrum than a corporate CEO.

"What about the brother who sits by your bedside all day?"

"Even for him, I'm not turning into your – or anyone else's – pawn."

"It still hasn't occurred to you that I want to help?"

"I don't give a fuck what you want. And – for the record – no, of course I don't trust the person who put me in this coma to begin with. You did what people with power do all the time – use it to fuck with the people that don't. That's okay, it's how the world works. Just don't try to pretty it up or expect me to be gullible enough to believe in you."

"Yes. I used you. It was necessary to win. And now I plan to pay my debt. Is that blunt enough for your tastes?"

In spite of himself, Kaiba was relieved. Taking whatever actions you believed necessary and hoping that the scales would balance later was something he could understand.

In a more downscale neighborhood than Kaiba's (which was all of them), Yami spent his morning looking for the cat. He'd known that finding it was long shot before he'd walked out of the door. The animal seemed to spend his days somewhere far from the Kame Game Shop.

"I'm sure he's okay," Yugi said as Yami walked in the shop door, empty-handed. "Didn't you see him take a swipe at Jounouchi? And look at how fast he moved!"

"It certainly sounds like he can take care of himself," Sugoroku said as he came out of the storage room at the back of the shop to join them.

"He shouldn't have to," Yami grumbled. "I told him I'd take care of him. He should have listened."

Yugi laughed. "You do realize you're talking about a cat right?"

"Cats are independent creatures at the best of times – and this one's used to being on his own. You're going to need patience if you expect to tame him." Sugoroku chuckled. "You're spending all day worrying, and he'll probably waltz in here tonight or tomorrow like nothing was wrong."

"I hope so," Yami said.

He began, somewhat mechanically, to help Yugi stock the shelves. It was afternoon by the time he made his way to the Kaiba mansion. Two men in black suits were standing outside the door. When he opened it, Isono and Fubeta were seated by the door inside.

"You came back," Mokuba said as Yami walked in the door; a note of relief had crept into his voice.

"I said I'd be back. I meant it," Yami answered.

Mokuba nodded and looked away. He wasn't any more used to apologizing than his brother.

Yami's glance sharpened as he looked at Kaiba. His rival's neck had been rubbed raw. A couple of angry scratches ran its length.

"What happened to him? Why didn't you call me?"

"I don't know. The doctor says it's an allergic reaction. He couldn't say to what." Mokuba's voice was sullen. He knew better than the doctor. He'd seen those marks before.

Yami turned Kaiba's head to expose his neck more clearly. "It doesn't look like a rash. Those are scratches." He tilted his head and squinted. "It almost looks like he was tied up and tried to escape."

"I know. But how could that have happened? I've been watching him all night! I only nodded off for an hour or two, and when I woke up he was like that." Mokuba looked around the room as though he could read the answer on the walls. "I've posted extra guards, but what good will that do?"

"This isn't natural. Something else must be at work here. Has anything like this ever happened before?"

Mokuba bit his lip and swallowed, oblivious to the way Yami's eyes sharpened at his reaction.

"Tell me, Mokuba. It may be important," Yami said.

Mokuba paused. He was hurt and confused and he resented Yami for the simple act of being able to walk into the room, look around and talk – when his brother couldn't do any of those things. But most of all, he was scared. His brother's neck had always looked like that when they'd lived with Gozaburo. Mokuba frowned. He'd been in his brother's room all night. No one could have gotten to him, and Gozaburo was dead, anyway.

"Trust me," Yami said, just as he had at Duelists Kingdom, when he'd promised to help.

Mokuba looked at his brother again. He knew what Kaiba would have said to Yami's request… if he had bothered using words. But Mokuba's brother was in a coma and the cat-god who put him there had said that trust was the key to freeing him. One of them had to take a leap of faith – and it didn't count if you stopped to put a safety net up first.

He glanced at Isono and Fubeta. They nodded and left the room, carefully shutting the door behind them.

"He looked like that sometimes back with Gozaburo. If he was working on an assignment, Gozaburo would…" Mokuba paused again.

Yami waited. He didn't make a sound.

"Our adoptive father used to put a dog collar on him. When things got bad he chained Nisama to his desk until he finished. He beat… he used to call my brother a dog. He sure treated him like one," Mokuba finished in a rush, as if he had to get the words out before they dried up.

Yami grabbed Kaiba's arm, needing to touch him. His eyes shone blood red, glittering with reflected sunlight from the garden outside. He remembered Kaiba piloting the blimp as they all escaped from Noa's virtual world, straining to outrun the flames of its destruction. Yami was sorry Gozaburo had died there. It had been too easy and painless. A snarl found its way out of his throat.

"Yami…" Mokuba said hesitantly.

Kaiba stirred uneasily. Yami drew in a breath, exhaled, and loosened his grip on Kaiba's arm. "I remember your adoptive father from Noa's virtual world."

"Yeah, well, he was even worse in the real one and my brother had to live with him day after day for years."

"That will leave its mark even on the strongest," Yami agreed as he brushed the hair off Kaiba's forehead, his touch gentle now.

Kaiba had been instantly aware of Yami's hand from the moment Yami had seized his arm. Now that hand was lying heavily on his forehead. If Kaiba could have thrown it off, he would have. Yesterday, Yami's touch had been soothing; today it felt like an intrusion.

His adoptive father's hands had felt like that. Gozaburo had never smoothed the hair off of Kaiba's face, of course, but he'd certainly back-handed his adoptive son often enough for Kaiba to remember the feel of them, the very casualness of the blows making them about possession as well as pain.

Kaiba could remember Gozaburo's hands across his shoulders at those formal, public occasions when his adoptive father's temper had been leashed. He remembered how heavy Gozaburo's fingers had felt, digging into his flesh to find bone, holding him in his place by his adoptive father's side with their weight. To an outside observer, it had probably looked familial… caring, even. Kaiba knew better. It had been an assertion of ownership.

Kaiba shook his head. There'd been times when he'd hated Yami… Hell, he'd once created a theme park of death just to kill him off in style. And Yami had returned the favor, had fought back just as hard, had imposed his punishments just as forcefully. But Kaiba had never confused Yami with Gozaburo before, and he didn't know why he was doing it now. Yami's retribution had been harsh, but he'd been always been fair. And Yami had helped him more than he cared to remember or admit. But deserved or not, the slightest touch of Yami's hand reminded him of all those nights he'd stayed up studying, collared like an animal, with Gozaburo holding that riding crop under his jawline, waiting for his chin to sag.

Kaiba shifted restlessly on the bed again. He didn't want to mix the sound of Yami's voice with the feel Gozaburo's hands on his neck. Whatever limited store of hope he had in anything beyond Mokuba, he'd placed in Yami. Losing that hurt.

Yami frowned at Kaiba's reaction to his touch. Something had changed. Yesterday it had quieted him; Yami had been almost able to believe that Kaiba had been aware of – and comforted by – his presence. Today Kaiba was almost thrashing on the bed, his head shaking from side to side in his effort to avoid Yami.

Yami stared at the marks on Kaiba's neck again, unable to shake the sudden, absurd conviction that Kaiba and the stray cat that had appeared on his doorstep where somehow connected. He bit his lip in concentration; he was still facing Kaiba, but now his gaze was inward as he ran the past few days through his mind. They'd all wondered how Kaiba could possibly learn anything about trust or friendship asleep, especially since it was a feat he hadn't managed in all his waking hours.

Then the cat had appeared almost the moment Kaiba had been struck down. Last night he'd put a collar on the cat's neck. Today, Kaiba's was scraped and bruised like he'd tried to scratch one off. When he'd first glimpsed the cat on his doorstep he'd agreed with Yugi it must have been a mirage. The idea that they were connected seemed just as fanciful… but maybe it was just as true.

Yami carefully moved his hand from Kaiba's hair. "I think I'm starting to understand, my friend and rival. Perhaps we'll both do better when you wake up."

Mokuba's head shot up at Yami's comment.

Yami smiled at Mokuba before returning his attention to Kaiba. "I'm confident you'll return to us. You're strong enough to do anything – even learn to trust." He reached out to Kaiba automatically, then stopped the instant before he touched him and returned his hands to his lap. "And I'll remember to be more careful. There are so many things I don't know despite how often I've felt completely in sync with you, like a Spell Card and a Duel Monster, just waiting to be played together." Yami shook his head. "How can I be so ignorant of the man I've fought with and beside and for? Believe me, I've never wanted to cause you pain."

"You know something," Mokuba said.

"No. I only wish I did."

But Mokuba refused to be put off. In his own way, he was as stubborn as his brother – especially when he sensed a secret. "But you have an idea," he insisted.

Yami hesitated. "One that's too vague to say aloud, even to you. Once it's formed in my mind, I'll share it."

"That doesn't seem fair. I told you all that stuff about Nisama, and now you're holding out on me."

"I know. I don't have a better answer for you, though."

Mokuba scowled. He twisted his hands together in his lap and nodded. "Okay," he said to his knotted fingers. "I guess that's part of trusting you. I can see why my brother isn't a fan of the idea."

"Thank you," Yami said.

Yugi found them sitting side by side when he arrived a little while later. Mokuba wondered if the two of them had worked out a schedule, since after that first day, they'd never both been in Kaiba's room at the same time. It was almost, he thought with an inward giggle, as if they still shared a body.

"I figured I'd come by a little early in case you wanted to look for that cat again. And I told our neighbors to keep an eye out for him," Yugi said.

"I appreciate that."

Yami hugged Yugi. As he towards the door Yami heard Mokuba ask, "What cat?"

"A stray cat that followed Yami home. Only he keeps escaping," Yugi answered as he took Yami's chair next to Mokuba. He stared at Kaiba for a moment before saying, "Your brother looks better than he did… the last time he was in a coma, I mean… more like he's with us, somehow. That's got to be a good sign."

Yami was glad that he had turned at the threshold just in time to see Mokuba's shy smile and hear him say, "Yeah, you're right. It _is_ different this time. Thanks, Yugi."

Yami smiled, relieved that he was leaving Mokuba in good hands. He searched the streets on the way home. It was dusk by the time he reached the game shop. Yami waited on the doorstep until long after the sun had set, but he wasn't surprised when the cat didn't show up. Kaiba wouldn't have forgiven him that easily, either.

Sugoroku was waiting in the hallway. He took one look at Yami's face. "Don't worry. Wild animals can be skittish. When this one gets over whatever spooked him, he'll be back. He'll remember your kindness eventually – and that this was the place where he had his last warm meal." Sugoroku put his arm around Yami's shoulder and led him to the kitchen where dinner was waiting.

* * *

 

.

**_Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter._ **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Any story that turns Kaiba into a cat is going to have an element of fluffiness (if you'll excuse the pun.) But since I had turned Kaiba into a cat so he could experience his emotions instead of just pushing them away, I realized (as usual, only after I started writing) that some of those emotions were going to be painful ones. I also couldn't resist adding a reference to Yugi coming to visit Kaiba when he was in a coma after Death-T, because it occurred to me that outside of Mokuba, Yugi was the only one who had seen Kaiba regularly back then.

And I have to admit, trying to think of a new cat pun or saying for each chapter is a lot of fun.

**Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

**_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._ **

 


	6. Cat's Cradle

**CHAPTER 6: CAT’S CRADLE**

Gods don’t always know best. Despite Bastet’s warning, Kaiba felt better after a night of peaceful oblivion, unvisited by even a cat’s consciousness. However odd a sensation for someone who’d been in a coma for days, he felt rested. Kaiba smiled to himself; he’d found a way to wrest at least some form of control over the situation. He felt better able to face the day – and to even look back at the ones before.

His first thoughts were of Yami. It was one thing to taunt Yami, to live to beat him, to laugh at his worst moments. It was another, totally unacceptable thing to turn from him… to think, even for a moment that the man who had saved Mokuba, that the one person who kept insisting that Kaiba himself was more than he seemed, was anything like Gozaburo. It was another puzzle, one Kaiba was determined to solve before he was another day older.

But his first visitor was Honda, not Yami. Mokuba glared at him when he entered the room. The taller boy held up his hands in mock surrender.

“I heard what went down between you and Jounouchi the other day.”

“Then why are you here?” Mokuba asked. His voice was as hard – and as brittle – as ice.

“Because even though he’s my best friend, me and Jounouchi aren’t the same people. I would have been here yesterday but I had to babysit. I want to help. Are you going to let me try or what?”

Mokuba nodded. He couldn’t speak. Honda hugged him. He ruffled Mokuba’s already messy black hair. “It’ll be okay, kid. Your brother’s survived worse, right?”

Mokuba nodded. His head reached Honda’s chest. Mokuba closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was hugging his Nisama. But his brother hadn’t worn a cheap white T-shirt since their days at the orphanage. The very softness of the worn material betrayed the fact that this wasn’t his Nisama. Mokuba stepped back and made room for Honda next to his brother.

Just like at his last visit, Honda launched into a description of his day, as if Kaiba was awake and they really were friends who were just shooting the breeze.

“So, it’s Saturday. I love Saturdays. I guess you probably work straight through them, huh?” Honda paused for a moment. Mokuba wondered if he’d forgotten that his brother couldn’t answer. “But there’s nothing better than Saturday. Because it’s _my_ day. I can do whatever I want… lie in bed as late as I feel like, fool around with my motorcycle, go see friends… it doesn’t matter what I pick, what matters is that no one else is doing the picking for me.”

He paused again and rocked a little in his chair. Mokuba bit back a sniffle. He wished his brother was awake and was really having this aimless, kind of silly conversation with a friend.

“I always figured you for an early riser, but just once you should try just lying in bed staring up at the ceiling, knowing you can just roll over and go back to sleep and no one’s going to wake you up. Oh yeah, you must be tired of sleeping…” Honda looked at Mokuba uncertainly. “I guess that was the wrong thing to say.”

Mokuba was crying now, but he shook his head. “You’re doing fine.”

Honda smiled. “Thanks. You know it’s easier talking to him than I thought it would be.” He turned back to Kaiba continued his monologue.

Mokuba almost nodded off listening to the rise and fall of Honda’s voice. He jerked awake as Jounouchi flung the door open and stomped into the room. He pulled a chair forward and slumped into it, glaring defiantly at Kaiba before transferring the look to Mokuba.

“I still don’t know what good it’s going to do, but I’m not a quitter. I’m here and I’m staying this time,” he announced.

Mokuba opened his mouth to order Jounouchi from the room. His brother would have done it in a heartbeat – if he’d ever made the mistake of letting Jounouchi inside in the first place. But Mokuba thought of Yami telling him that he had to learn to accept help, no matter how rudely it was offered. The glare he shot back at Jounouchi was far from friendly, but he nodded and leaned back in his chair.

“You look like you haven’t slept in days, kid,” Jounouchi said, his voice softening as he looked the younger boy over.

“I’ve slept.”

“I meant in your own bed and for more than a few minutes at a time. Go get some shut-eye. We can cover for you here. I’ve got some time before I have to get to my job.”

Mokuba scowled. Jounouchi’s words reminded him how tired he was. But it felt like an insult every time they fussed over him when his brother was the one in the coma.

“Yeah, right… like I’m going to trust my brother to you.”

“Hey! You can’t really think I’m going to mess with a guy in a coma!” Jounouchi said indignantly.

Mokuba bit his lip. He knew Jounouchi was right. The truth was, although he could put on a pretty good act, he wasn’t much better at actually trusting people than his Nisama was.

"You’ll probably be able to stay up longer if you get some sleep now, but whatever you need to do is fine,” Honda said. He turned back to Kaiba and switched from waking up on Saturdays to the rest the weekend activities – or more specifically, the part of them that concerned his motorcycle, running through his plans to improve his bike’s performance. It was (ironically) the first thing he’d said that might have kept Kaiba’s attention if he’d been awake.

Mokuba listened, wondering what it would be like to have a nice, boring life like Honda’s. It wasn’t something he thought about often; his brother was fond of saying that what mattered was playing the hand you were dealt and making it a winning one. His eyelids started to droop again. He shook himself awake and left the room. Once he’d forced himself out the door, it was easier to leave them in charge than he had thought it would be. And the guys were right. It was nice laying down in his own bed like everything was back to normal.

As he left the room, Honda started describing Yami’s new cat. “I don’t know why he likes it so much, to tell the truth. It’s really nasty and kind of funny looking, but I didn’t tell Yami that. I mean, it’d be like telling a mother her baby’s ugly…”

“How can you do that?” Jounouchi demanded.

“What?”

“Keep talking like we’re all hanging out over a burger and fries. Kaiba’s in a freaking coma and Yami’s wasting his life away watching him because he’s guilty he couldn’t pull a rabbit out of a hat one more time and fix this mess.”

“Huh?” Honda asked.

“Well, why else would Yami be here so often?”

Honda shrugged. “I don’t know. But… Yami likes Kaiba.”

“Are you crazy? He almost killed Kaiba at Duelists Kingdom! They fight all the time!”

“So do we, and we’re best friends,” Honda pointed out.

Jounouchi’s mouth dropped open. “I swear… I don’t know if that’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said or if you have a point.”

Honda shrugged, but he let the conversation drop.

“This sucks!” Jounouchi said, crossing his arms. He hung his head until his chin was sunken into his chest. “I didn’t mean to upset the kid. He’s got a lot on his plate.”

Honda nodded. “I know you didn’t.”

“It could have been any of us, you know,” Jounouchi blurted out.

Honda looked at him, at a loss for words.

“Bastet said that she picked Kaiba because he jumped in front of us. But if I hadn’t been so distracted, I would have done the same thing. It was wild… Yugi and Yami were suddenly both there out of nowhere… there was this snake monster… he was so big, and Kaiba just gets in his face like it was nothing. Kaiba may be a jerk, but it was crazy brave. And then that electricity… it was like a million volts circling us. It raised the hair on my arms… but it went straight through him. I can’t even imagine what it must have felt like.” Jounouchi shuddered. “All I keep thinking is… if I hadn’t been so stunned… if I’d been a step quicker – it could have been me.”

“I know…” Honda said. “So, I don’t really care how many shades of asshole he’s been. He saved two – no, three – of my best friends. And if the only thing I can do to help is act like he’s okay and tell him a bunch of stuff he probably wouldn’t have the patience to listen to if he was awake, then that’s what I’m going to do. Because it’s what I’d be doing if it was you or Yugi.”

“I get it buddy… but you’re wrong about one thing. That cat isn’t kind of funny-looking – it’s massively ugly. Never lie to a guy in a coma.”

Yami arrived after Mokuba had woken up and Honda and Jounouchi had left. He’d spent the early morning assembling his new bed and the late morning helping Sugoroku open the shop. It was mid-afternoon by the time he arrived at the mansion. Kaiba was in a wheelchair by the window. It was unnerving, seeing him sitting up in a parody of wakefulness.

Yami dropped his eyes from Kaiba’s face. He was reassured by the steady rise and fall of Kaiba’s chest. The scratches on Kaiba’s neck haunted Yami with the suggestion that any injury he suffered as a cat would affect the body they were all waiting for him to return to. And then the cat had failed to appear the night before. There were so many things that could hurt a small stray creature left to fend for himself on the street.

Yami greeted Mokuba, sat down and reached out to brush the hair from Kaiba’s forehead. He stopped, remembering Kaiba’s reaction the day before. He drew in a breath, then tentatively stroked the top of Kaiba’s head. He exhaled with a sigh of relief when Kaiba shifted, leaning slightly towards him this time.

“I didn’t understand. But you have to believe: I wanted to help. There’s a past between us, but it’s an ancient one and neither of us remember it. I want to build something more substantial, here and now. I want to know you.” Yami reached out and grabbed Kaiba’s hand, watching and waiting for a reaction. Kaiba tensed for a moment, and then relaxed slightly. Yami exhaled; the air whistled slightly as it left his lips.

Honda’s voice had been a pleasant drone. Kaiba had been surprised to find that it didn’t annoy him. Yami was different. As always, Kaiba was aware of Yami from the moment he entered the room. He was talking quietly; the tone was familiar. Kaiba was sure he’d heard it recently, outside of this room… he struggled to make sense of it.

Then Yami grabbed his hand. Kaiba fought the impulse to jerk away, pleased that once he forced himself to stay quiet, to remember that Yami was nothing like his adoptive father, Yami’s words, even his touch were once again, surprisingly soothing.

Then again, everything about Yami was surprising: how often he’d shown up, how quickly Kaiba had gotten used to it. The two of them had fought so many duels. They’d tried to kill each other; they’d helped each other survive. It had unexpectedly created a bond, one that had Kaiba impatient with his inactive state when Yami was around, conveniently forgetting how many times he’d ostentatiously ignored the smaller duelist in the past.

But something about Yami’s hand stoking his hair, his voice speaking so softly, was familiar. A little too familiar, Kaiba finally realized.

“Bastet!” he howled, hoping the capricious goddess would decide to appear.

“You bellowed? I hope you don’t imagine my generosity means I’m at your beck and call.”

“Considering no one believes in you anymore, I can’t imagine your dance card is overbooked,” Kaiba said with a smirk.

“You’d be surprised how many still believe,” Bastet said. “You may have won a goddess’ gratitude, but you’d be wise not to try my patience too often.”

“And you’d be wise to cut the crap and tell me just where you’ve been dumping me these past few nights.”

“ _I_ haven’t been dragging you anywhere.” Even in the ever-present darkness, Bastet’s smile was triumphantly malicious. “I simply caused you to be transported to the one place – besides your office or bedroom – where you feel safe, or as safe as it’s possible for you to feel, anyway. _You_ were the one who chose the Kame Game shop as your destination, not I. Maybe instead of howling for me, you should spend your time asking yourself what you’re looking for there.”

Kaiba was glad that Mokuba had moved him into a wheelchair for the afternoon, and set him near the window. He could feel the sun on his body – and more importantly, measure time by its path. He had at least a couple of hours before it was due to set. Kaiba thought feverishly, intent on figuring out at least a piece of this puzzle before then. He had to prove that logic and determination – the tools that had taken him so far in every other challenge he’d faced – had their place even in this strange game.

His neck was sore, as if he was back under Gozaburo’s thumb and his adoptive father had strapped a collar around his neck as if he was a dog – and pulled it suffocatingly tight.

No… not a dog… he’d been a cat.

He’d been at the Kame Game Shop. If they hadn’t been trying to hurt him… what had those well-meaning idiots done?

“Those morons thought I had fleas!” Kaiba shouted, for once not caring that Bastet was there.

Kaiba felt unaccountably lighter. It hadn’t been a betrayal, just another piece of well-intentioned meddling, the kind Yugi and his friends excelled in. Because Kaiba would rather have had fleas a thousand times over than worn the badge of someone else’s ownership.

“So, you figured it out. But logic will only take you so far, my friend,” Bastet cautioned. “It wasn’t a betrayal. You know that now. You were in a place where you felt safe, but you couldn’t hold on to that feeling, could you?”

“I’m not your friend. And that’s your answer for everything, isn’t it? What would have happened to Mokuba and me, if I’d trusted Gozaburo or the Big 5 or any of the other bastards who’ve tried to take us down?”

“No one is telling you to trust foolishly. But your future will be fettered unless you learn how to trust those who have proven themselves worthy – and not as a last resort, or because you’ve reasoned it out, but because you truly believe. Knowledge does not solely reside in the mind. You must learn to see with your heart as well.”

“Let’s get one thing very clear,” Kaiba said, his voice as low and threatening as the hiss of a steel blade being drawn from its sheath, “Yami and Yugi may be trustworthy, you sure as hell aren’t. You can tell yourself you’re helping me all you want, but you’re the being who fucked with my mind, who took away all choice over what I experience. No matter what happens, I’ll never forgive you for that.”

“I know. I accepted that as a consequence of my actions. But you served us in your previous life; you saved us from an ancient threat in this one. I couldn’t let you continue to live your life in chains.” She disappeared before the echo of her words had faded.

Kaiba fumed for a moment in solitude, but it was hard keeping an argument going when your opponent had vanished. As his angry mutterings died down, he began, reluctantly, to consider her words… and even more grudgingly to admit that she had a point, at least when it came to Yami. Logically, he’d known Yami wouldn’t hurt him. He should have remembered it, even as a cat – and yet when the moment had come, all he’d seen were the shadows of his past.

With certain, limited, specific exceptions, Kaiba did not believe in regrets. If he hadn’t been so alone, Kaiba would never have admitted that once again, Yami was one of his few exceptions. But suddenly all he remembered were the times they’d shared… how they’d fought monsters together in the corridors of the Kaiba Corporation USA Headquarters during that DOMA incident… how they’d looked at each other, thrown back their heads and laughed… how Yami had turned one of the angriest moments of a rage-filled life into something inexplicably joyful…

“I wanted to trust you, Yami,” he muttered. “I swear that I did.”

Yami smiled. Somehow when Kaiba had shifted in his chair the last time, his face had wound up cupped in Yami’s palm. Yami ran his thumb along one lean cheek.

“Seto…” Yami hoped that the familiar sound of his name would reclaim his rival from wherever he was lost. Yami’s mouth closed with a snap.   Just how familiar was the sound of Seto’s name, even to its owner? Yami had never heard it used. Mokuba called him, “Nisama;” the rest of the world, “Kaiba,” as if the man and the corporation were interchangeable. He had no family besides Mokuba, no close friends. Who would use the name Seto?

“It’s a lovely name. It’s time someone did, Seto,” he said, half hoping Kaiba would wake up, even if it was only to voice his outrage at being referred to so familiarly.

Yami sat staring at Kaiba for a long time – long enough to realize the sun was setting. He jumped out of his chair with a start. He had to get home. The cat seemed to appear at sundown. What if he showed up on their doorstep and no one was there to greet him? Would he dash off, never to return?

Yami was glad when Mokuba offered the use of one of their limousines. Isono drove him home in silence.

This time the cat was waiting by the doorstep when Isono opened the limousine’s passenger side door to let Yami out.

“You seem to have acquired a friend,” Isono said, approaching the cat.

“Hardly that. He keeps disappearing,” Yami said, noting that the collar was gone and the fur around the cat’s neck was ruffled.

Isono smiled as he bent down and held out a finger for the cat to sniff, being careful to keep very still. He nodded at the cat as though asking for it for permission. The cat sniffed Isono’s fingers then inclined its head until it rested under Isono’s palm. Isono smiled as he patted the sleek head. The cat stretched its neck further and Isono took the hint to scratch him lightly behind the ears.

Isono liked cats. He appreciated their stubborn independence and was quietly amused by the unpredictability of their moods. This one looked like he didn’t know whether to hiss and spit or settle in for a snuggle. Isono backed off before it had to make a choice and headed back to his car.

“Do you own a cat? I can’t even get this one to stay the night,” Yami called out.

Isono smiled. “I’m not sure ‘own’ is the right word. I have two that consent to living with me and letting me feed them.”

Yami nodded. He watched as Isono drove off, then held the door open and waited to see if the cat would enter. He breathed a sigh of relief when it crossed the threshold. Yami led it to the kitchen, remembering Sugoroku’s advice. He wasn’t sure whether the cat was more likely to be swayed by kindness or food; he intended to supply both.

They left the kitchen together. The cat hesitated at the entrance to the living room. Anzu was sitting nearest the door. She smiled and held out her hand. Slowly, the cat came forward, then sniffed it. Anzu began stroking its head. The cat froze, then suddenly sprang into Anzu’s lap. He didn’t sit, though. Instead, he stood for a moment, legs vibrating with tension as Anzu continued to pet his head. For an instant it seemed as though the cat was going to relax and accept her touch. Then he jumped off her lap and hissed at her before turning tail and running from the room.

“Poor baby! He’s probably had to fight since the minute he opened his eyes,” Anzu said.

“He just spit at you and you’re defending him?” Jounouchi said.

“If he wasn’t such a tough little thing, he wouldn’t even be alive.”

“You were petting him and he acted like you were about to boil him in oil! I give up. I’ll never understand girls.”

Anzu pointed a finger at Jounouchi. “Use your head, Jounouchi. How was he supposed to figure all that out? He’s a cat; he’s got a brain the size of a rice ball. Being kicked around is probably all that he knows. It’s what he expects. He’s not going to know we’re different, just because Yami fed him a meal!” Anzu stopped in mid-rant and put one hand to her mouth. Her eyes widened. She looked at Yugi.

“What?” he asked.

She blushed and shook her head. “Nothing. I’m being silly. It just occurred to me that you could probably say the same about Kaiba.”

Jounouchi laughed. “I can’t wait for Kaiba to wake up – just so you can tell him that he has a brain the size of a rice ball.”

Yami laughed as he followed his pet upstairs. The cat was sniffing at the blankets that hung over the side of his new bed. As Yami entered the room and sat cross-legged on his bed, the cat retreated to a corner. Yami watched as the cat paced back and forth, coming closer to the bed – and to Yami – and then backing away with each circuit of the room. Yami was amazed that any creature could be that eloquent without uttering a sound.

Yami concentrated on sitting very still. Eventually the pacing grew slower. The cat sat in front of the bed, staring at Yami, his head tilted slightly to the side. Yami was afraid to breathe as though the slightest movement might scare his visitor away. Finally, the cat jumped on the bed.

“It’s more comfortable that the cot was,” Yami said.

The cat prowled around the bottom of the bed, careful to keep his distance from Yami as he completed his inspection, although Yami was unsure if he was checking for defects in its manufacture or scanning for hidden traps. He settled down onto the blankets then gave one experimental roll.

Yami smiled. “So it seems you’ve forgotten my debacle with the flea collar.”

The cat jumped up; his back was arched slightly. His tail twitched in annoyance. He glared at the bed as though it was to blame for his loss of dignity.

“You are a prickly little beast aren’t you,” Yami said affectionately.

The cat took a hesitant step towards him, possibly lulled by the softness in Yami’s voice.

“I’m sorry. Sometimes thinking you know best isn’t a substitute for understanding. Besides,” Yami added as the cat leaned far enough forwards for Yami to stoke his head, “I don’t think you have fleas. You’d never permit them to land, would you?”

The cat leaned in still further, then sank into the bed, leaning his head against Yami’s leg… seemingly surrendering to the quiet of the room and the warmth of Yami’s hand. But just as a purr was about to escape, he jumped up and skidded from the room.

Yami sighed, more convinced than ever that the wary, aggressive and infinitely vulnerable animal that had just fled held a part of Kaiba’s soul.

But he left the door open. He lay down facing the doorway, waiting. Just as he was about to give up and close his eyes, the cat – with Kaiba’s exquisite sense of timing – came back and sat on the floor, staring at him. Yami half closed his eyes and held his breath until he felt a small, cat-sized weight settle on the bed next to him. He opened his eyes. The cat’s gleamed back at him, wide and unblinking. Slowly, carefully, Yami stretched his arm until it formed an open-ended circle around the cat, shifting him almost imperceptibly closer to Yami. They stayed like that for a moment, neither quite relaxed. But Yami had found that one victory had whetted his taste for another. He reached over and stroked the side of the cat closest to his hand.

“You’re safe here, Seto. I’ll take care of you. I promise,” he whispered. “You can do this. Please.”

Quiet as Yami’s voice was, it almost drowned out the sudden, soft, rumbling purr. Yami smiled, enjoying the almost heartbeat like vibration as the cat finally relaxed against him, finally surrendered to being held and comforted. Yami would have sworn he could have listened to the cat purr until dawn, but when Yugi came up to bed a little while later, they were both asleep, still curled up next to each other.

 

 

* * *

 

**_Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter and keeping track of whether Kaiba was in bed or by the window._ **

**AUTHOR’S NOTE:** This is probably the fluffiest chapter I’ve ever written – and I had to turn Kaiba into a cat to do it. I’m not sure what to think about that…

**Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_Please review; I’d really like to hear from you._


	7. You Gotta Be Kitten Me

**CHAPTER 7: YOU GOTTA BE KITTEN ME**

Kaiba could have sworn that Bastet had already put him through every emotion imaginable, but embarrassment was something new. It was one thing to remember each morning hissing and spitting at Yami and the rest of the crowd the night before. It was another, totally unacceptable state of affairs to remember being hugged and petted. To realize that he'd enjoyed it… to acknowledge that he'd climbed back onto Yami's bed of his own accord.

He could feel his face flush at the memory of purring in Yami's arms, of falling asleep with Yami's breath ghosting its way across his body. It didn't matter that he'd been a cat, that he'd temporarily had a brain the size of a rice ball (which was the only way to explain what had happened.) He'd gone to sleep snuggled up against his greatest rival as though it was where he belonged, as though he was something that needed to be taken care of. And the bitch of it was… it had been so easy to close his eyes and nod off, without the second and third thoughts that usually held sleep at bay until late in the night. He could vaguely remember that same sense of comfort from back when he'd been a child himself, back before he'd promised to be Mokuba's father. Ever since making that vow he'd known he couldn't depend on anyone else – not when Mokuba was depending on him.

It had been such a simple, unbreakable rule. How could he have forgotten it? Now, in the clear light of day, he couldn't pretend it hadn't happened. Kaiba snarled, unable to decide who he wanted to strangle first: Yami, Bastet or himself.

Knowing he had enjoyed being treated like a fluffy little creature (even if he had been a cat at the time) was enough to make Kaiba wonder, however briefly, if he might be better off never waking up at all. But spending the rest of his life as Yami's pet was an existence too hideous to contemplate. And anyway, he rationalized, it had taken him days to figure out what had happened. The idea that Yami, no matter how skillful (or lucky) he was as a duelist, was anywhere near his league intellectually, was laughable. He smiled at the idea of Yami wondering cluelessly where his cat had disappeared to when Kaiba finally woke up. It would serve Yami right for trying to make a pet out of something inherently untamable.

That settled, Kaiba felt ready to face another day.

Yugi and Yami searched the room when they woke up the next morning. The cat was gone.

"How did he do that? He was sleeping snuggled up next to you when I came to bed last night. It was cute. But I shut the door and our windows are closed." Yugi said. He whirled around as if he expected the cat to somehow appear. "I'm tired of trying to come up with logical sounding reasons for how he keeps vanishing. The door was shut – and even if we opened it in the middle of the night, we would have noticed if a cat ran out. I mean he's skinny, but nothing is that skinny. It's just not natural."

Yami sighed. "One thing occurred to me – but 'logical' is the last word I'd use to describe my thoughts."

"Go ahead. I'm listening. You know I won't laugh – not after everything we've been through – even if it seems too crazy for words."

"What if you're right? What if it isn't natural? Bastet decided to interest herself in our – or Kaiba's – affairs. Cats are her province."

"You think she set a cat to spy on us?"

"Not exactly," Yami admitted. "You heard what Anzu said last night about the cat reminding her of…"

"You think Bastet turned Kaiba into a cat?" Despite Yugi's best efforts, his voice squeaked on the last word.

"At night anyway. It would explain how he gets out of closed rooms."

"You're right. It fits," Yugi said, after thinking it over. "Honestly, something supernatural makes as much sense as anything else. But what do you think the connection is?"

Yami drew in a breath and summed up his suspicions; he explained about the scratches on Kaiba's neck, how Kaiba seemed so much more vacant between sundown and sunup, about the same time the cat appeared each night.

"Have you told Mokuba?" Yugi asked when he finished.

"What am I supposed to tell him? That I think his brother's a cat?"

"He's worried about Kaiba. Mokuba's not a kid… I mean, he is, but… he has a right to know," Yugi finished, his chin stuck slightly out.

Yami frowned. "I don't want to worry him – or give him false hope."

"Think it over. I'm going to see him with Anzu this morning, so you have time," Yugi said. "Wait until you see Mokuba this afternoon. Maybe it'll help you decide."

"If Kaiba really has turned into a cat, he would hate for anyone…"

Yugi wagged a finger at Yami. "Of course I won't say a word to anyone, even Anzu and the gang. Could you imagine Kaiba's reaction?"

"I'd actually much rather not," Yami admitted. "And… it would feel like a betrayal."

"Oh, wow… speaking of Anzu… I'm still in my pajamas!" Yugi rummaged around for his clothes. "I don't want to be late," he yelled over his shoulder as he ran for the bathroom.

Yami couldn't help but smile. If Yugi had been turned into a cat, he definitely would have been a much fluffier, cuddlier one than their current visitor.

Yugi still had a trace of soap behind one ear when he and Anzu arrived at Kaiba's room a little while later. Anzu was holding his hand very tightly. The words she'd yelled at Jounouchi the night before, "He's probably been kicked around his entire life. How could he know anything different?" kept coming back to her. For the first time she had an idea what Bastet had meant when she'd talked about acceptance. It had been easy to care for the cat. Anzu knew she had to try to do the same for Kaiba.

She squared her shoulders as she entered the room. They slumped almost immediately as she looked at Kaiba. Yugi squeezed her hand. She took a breath and turned to Yugi. "I didn't realize until this happened just how angry I still was. I'd thought I'd put that behind me. He hurt you, Yugi. I know you forgave him, but you weren't the only one who was there on Pegasus' tower that day. It was awful, thinking we'd lost our last chance to rescue your grandfather, when all Kaiba cared about was winning."

"That's not true!" Mokuba yelled. "He was trying to save me!"

She looked at him, startled. "Yes. But I didn't know that then. If he'd told us, you know we would have helped." She turned to Kaiba. "Still, you _are_ a wonderful big brother. No one can take that away from you." She shook her head. "That's probably the only thing I could say that you'd approve of, and I'm short-changing you. You're more than a big brother, even if you don't realize that."

She let go of Yugi's hand, went to the bed and smoothed the hair off Kaiba's forehead with a gentleness even Mokuba approved of. She frowned when Kaiba shied slightly away from her touch. She reached out and stroked his hair again, disturbed that even unconscious he was trying to ward off any show of friendship. "But you couldn't tell us that you and Mokuba were in trouble, could you? I never got that before… why you were so cruel to Yugi rather than simply ask for our help… why you were ready to die first. When you're always ready. That's why Bastet took you – because you were holding your life card too loosely, just like at Duelists Kingdom. It makes me mad sometimes, the way you act like your life doesn't matter. It does. You're not stupid. You should know better that."

Mokuba smiled. Anzu sounded a little angry again; this time he didn't mind.

She paused, looking at Kaiba's face. Honda was right. It was easier talking to Kaiba when those blazing eyes were closed, when his lips weren't turned down in a disdainful sneer, when she wasn't angrily anticipating what calculated, hurtful things were going to come out of his mouth next. She continued to stroke his hair, reminded of the way the cat had jumped and hissed just as she thought it was settling down.

"You really are like that cat of Yami's," she said, not noticing how Yugi's head shot up at her comment. "Jounouchi says that he's a nasty thing – and he's right. But he's a fighter; he probably had to do it from the moment he was born, just like you. I bet there's a nice little guy that just wants to cuddle in there somewhere." She paused, remembering the cat spitting at her the night before. "Well, maybe not cuddle… or maybe like you, he doesn't know how."

Kaiba was surprised at the way Yugi's friends kept coming around. Yugi, he'd expected. After all, Yugi had visited after Death-T and anyone who'd do that had to have a sense of responsibility that bordered on the absurd.

The girl was here now. At first she'd been screeching. Kaiba had wondered if she ever did anything else – around him at any rate. Then her voice had softened. She'd taken advantage of his being unconscious to pat his head, just as if he'd been a pet. The fact that it felt nice, soothing even, didn't lessen his sense of outrage. He hoped he would remember this moment when he eventually reasoned his way out of this mess, just so he could fire his security detail for not keeping her away.

Except he wouldn't…

Now that she'd finally stopped yelling, now that she was petting him as though he was still a fucking cat, Kaiba recognized her… or at least he recognized the welcoming presence he'd felt every night in Yugi's home. And he was surprised and offended to discover further proof that whatever he experienced as a cat was managing to affect his rational, waking mind.

Despite the way they kept coming around, or how they kept up their irritating efforts to help, Kaiba wasn't sure Yugi or his friends liked him. He wasn't sure he cared either way – except that it would help him wake up. But he'd been a small, defenseless, and, as he thought smugly, supremely annoying animal every night around them. They could have hurt him or thrown him out. They hadn't. They'd fed him and tried to keep him safe instead. Kaiba hated Bastet for forcing this experience on him; he'd been changed by it nonetheless. He couldn't undo the feeling – for the first time in years – of being cared for and cared about.

Kaiba groaned, glad Bastet wasn't around to read his mind, because he finally got what she'd been trying to tell him days ago. He'd been trying to analyze trustworthiness – as if it was an engineering problem he could solve once he'd rounded up and measured all the variables. But instead of cracking the code and acquiring incontrovertible proof of trustworthiness – or its absence – he'd done something much simpler and much more complicated. He'd experienced it, instead.

He still didn't know how they felt about him. He still didn't know if he cared. He still didn't understand affection very well, but (literally in this case) at the end of the day trust was infinitely more valuable.

Anzu stared at Kaiba in surprise, realizing that sometime during her convoluted monologue he'd stopped twitching and had actually begun to relax as she kept petting his head. She smiled tentatively at him.

Yami arrived at the mansion after they'd left. He was no closer to a decision about what to tell Mokuba. The younger boy was dozing in a chair next to his brother. Yami tried not to feel cowardly for being glad of the reprieve.

He sat down next to Kaiba without disturbing his younger brother.

"I hope that was you I saw last night," Yami said quietly, laying his hand over Kaiba's.

Kaiba had expected to feel angry at Yami for barging into his home yet again (as if their nightly encounters weren't bad enough.) He still wanted to cringe – or yell – every time he remembered falling asleep in Yami's arms the night before. But his ire hadn't survived the first whisper of Yami's voice. One note and he was starved to hear the words he couldn't quite decipher, as long as Yami was the one saying them. Kaiba couldn't help but wonder if Yami had managed to put a collar around his neck after all.

But Yami was keeping his voice soft as if he knew and understood all of Kaiba's half formed objections. Kaiba suddenly remembered how carefully Yami had moved the night before, how many pains he'd taken not to pick Kaiba up or intrude on his space. That made it somewhat bearable. It made it easier to relax, to simply let Yami hold his hand without fighting free, to lay there and enjoy the sound of Yami's deliberately quiet voice.

After a while Yami fell silent. He made no move to leave. The room was peaceful; he was still hanging on to Kaiba's hand. It was easier to have hope today.

When Yami saw Bastet, he assumed he had fallen asleep and was having one of those dreams that feel startlingly real.

"Why are you here?" It was easy to talk to her calmly in a dream, as if chatting with gods was an everyday occurrence.

"You shouldn't be surprised by my presence. You were a pharaoh once. The gods have always taken a special interest in the pharaohs… even former ones." She smiled, an expression that sat oddly on her cat's face.

"Why are you here? Coming to check on your handiwork?" Yami asked, unable to keep an edge from his voice.

"I could have drained every last ounce of your priest's life force, leaving nothing but an empty husk. Is that what you would have preferred?"

Her voice hissed so sharply Yami wondered if he could cut himself against it. He shook his head.

"It was a near-run thing, taking enough power to defeat our enemy without depleting him past the point of no return. I promise you though: he is getting stronger – and more argumentative – with each day that passes. By coming here and focusing on him you and your friends are helping to replenish his energy until he can stand on his own once more."

"Why did you turn him into a cat? You must have known he would hate it," Yami said.

"He does," she said. The sleek smile was back. "But magic always requires an exchange. You and your friends are focusing your energy on him, in both his human and feline forms. But he must remove the blocks to receiving it himself. Besides, much as I value aloof and independent creatures, humans aren't made to exist so. I would not have him go through his life without having ever experienced friendship and trust, without knowing what it's like to depend on others and have them prove as steadfast as your secret hopes have made them."

"He would have discovered that on his own!" Yami yelled, angry once again.

"Do you truly believe that?"

"Yes. He has changed so much in such a short span of time. You took that chance from him… the chance to do this on his own, unforced."

"Gods can sometimes be impatient. Don't your stories tell you so?"

Yami stared at her, suddenly unsure what to say to a goddess. Words seemed to take on new meaning as they left her mouth. Yami glanced at Kaiba, at the steady, reassuring rise and fall of his chest. "Thank you for his life."

"He feels the same as you about my intrusion. After millennia, you are still so in tune with each other. I'm not surprised you could recognize your priest, even when I disguised him as a cat."

"I feel like I'm seeing a different part of him – the part he usually hides behind cool glares and colder words. Oh, he still spits and hisses at anyone who gets too close… but I've seen the part of him that's desperate to feel safe, to finally let go. And having seen, I can't forget."

"And what of you? As you friend keeps repeating, why aren't you celebrating?"

"I am celebrating. I'm just not partying. I think what I needed most of all was time to settle into simply being alive. This room has proven a surprisingly good place to do that. I feel ready for a future." Yami smiled. "Thank you for my life as well."

"I told you at the time… you've lost nothing that can't be regained. And it seems that your wishes – and desires – remain unchanged, no matter how many years have separated you from your priest."

Yami shifted uncomfortably. Bastet's knowing smile seemed to go so much further than the fantasies she'd hinted at.

"I miss him… not because of the past, but here and now," he admitted. "I've found myself thinking of him in a way that's different… or maybe it's just that I never realized what it meant every time I felt real in his presence. Now that I have a life I want him to be a part of it." Yami paused. He'd never said it aloud before, even to Yugi. "It's probably all a pipe dream. I can't imagine that Kaiba's thoughts have been following mine." Yami's voice rose slightly on the last word, leaving a hint of a question in the air.

"You might be pleasantly surprised," Bastet said as she vanished.

"Yami, wake up!" Mokuba called.

Yami blinked and stared at Mokuba. He rubbed his eyes as if that would bring Bastet back.

"We must have both fallen asleep," Mokuba said. "For a minute I could have sworn that crazy cat-lady was in the room with us. I wish I could remember what she said. It was almost like she wanted me to see but not hear her. Weird dream, huh?"

Yugi was right, Yami thought. Whatever the consequences, Mokuba had the right to know.

"I'm not sure it was a dream," Yami said slowly.

"You _do_ know something! Spill it!"

"This might sound strange," Yami began.

"Stranger than a cat-goddess putting my brother in a coma?" Mokuba asked.

Yami had to admit he had a point. "I think Bastet really was here. She said that Kaiba's getting stronger, closer to rejoining us. She said something else… a cat's been appearing on my doorstep every night since this started."

"Yeah, I know. Yugi told me, remember?"

Yami drew in a breath, then exhaled slowly. "It's not an ordinary cat. It's your brother."

Mokuba's mouth dropped open. Yami was glad that he seemed to be speechless.

"Bastet said it's part of his journey back to us," Yami said. He ran through a slightly censored version of his conversation with Bastet (after all, he'd agreed to share information on Kaiba's state of mind, not his own.) He described all he could remember of each night that the cat had spent at his house.

Mokuba's mouth had shut by the time he finished, but he seemed just as shocked. He finally opened it again to say, "I keep expecting him to open his eyes, but it's been days. I was starting to think… But if everything Bastet told you is true…"

"You don't have to be afraid to hope, Mokuba."

"I'm coming with you tonight," Mokuba announced. "And I'm going to bring him back here where he belongs… where I can make sure he's safe."

"This is like a penalty game. You know Kaiba has to solve it on his own."

"Are you crazy? You're talking about my brother! You think I'm just going to sit back and watch instead of taking care of him myself?"

"Yes. Hard as it is, that's exactly what you have to do. We're all committed to helping him. But he has to learn to let us. He can't do that here."

"He belongs here!"

"Mokuba, there's a reason he was sent to us. You're his world. You know that. But I think Bastet wants him to experience what it's like to have other people care for him. He really should have had that all along… friends… family… there should have been someone looking out for him."

"Damn you! He's my brother!" Mokuba yelled. He started sobbing.

Yami wished that Yugi was still here. Staring down an opponent in a duel was easy compared to reasoning with a furious 13 year old.

He opened his mouth to ask for Mokuba's trust one more time, then shut it as he realized that he had never given Mokuba his. He could almost hear Yugi's voice in his head – as if they were still connected – reminding him that trust was a two-way street.

Yami sighed. "Yes. He's your brother. That's why it'll be your call what happens next."

"And if you think for one moment…" Mokuba began. He stopped short as Yami's words sank in. "You mean it?"

"Yes. You're old enough to have a say in this." Yami smiled. "After all you've had his back for a while now, haven't you?"

Mokuba ducked his head. The sudden fall of hair across his face didn't hide his grin. "Well, now that that's settled," he said, pushing the hair out of his eyes, "let's get to your house in time for sunset. Hold on while I get Isono in here and arrange for Fubeta to take us to my brother."

The cat was waiting when they arrived back at the game shop. Yami got out of the car first. He walked up to the cat, absurdly pleased when the animal butted his head against Yami's leg. Yami patted the sleek head. He smiled when the cat stood his ground instead of backing away from his touch.

Mokuba got out of the limousine and came up to them. He bent down.

"Nisama?" he asked, hesitantly.

The cat froze at the sound of Mokuba's voice, then ran to the boy. Mokuba snatched him up and squished the cat against his chest, crying all over his short, bristly fur. Yami thought that no further proof of Kaiba's identity was needed than the way the usually belligerent animal accepted being smothered and half-choked – as long as Mokuba was the one doing the mauling.

The cat snuggled even deeper into Mokuba's embrace, aware only of the sound of Mokuba's heartbeat next to his ear, the feel of Mokuba's tears on his coat. All that he knew was that he was safe, that he was loved. His purrs reverberated through the summer night. He hooked his claws in Mokuba's shirt, careful not to scratch the boy. The cat had spent the week tossed by his emotions only to finally experience pure joy. He didn't notice when Mokuba lifted his head to look at Yami.

"He promised to take care of me. He was eight. That's why he picked Gozaburo. That's why he forgot how to trust anyone. That's why he's in this whole mess."

"Mokuba, that's not true. Kaiba has always made his own decisions – and vowing to be your father is the one he's proudest of. He would never want you to blame yourself. He loves you."

"I know. And I love him just as much." He kissed the top of the cat's head. "But this is my brother. Don't ask me how I know. I just do. And I have to think about what's best for him, even if it hurts. That's the only way I can live up to him."

Mokuba carefully disentangled the cat's claws. "Here," he said, thrusting the cat towards Yami. The cat twisted around in an attempt to regain his position against Mokuba's chest. Yami stood there a moment, stunned by Mokuba's gesture. He made no move to take the squirming creature.

"Mokuba? Are you sure?"

Mokuba nodded. "I want to take him home more than anything. I want to keep him safe with me. But you're right. He's here for a reason. He came to you and let you pet him. If I want him to wake up, I have to trust you guys." Mokuba grinned through his tears. "I have to trust him. Please. This is hard enough. Take him while I can still let go."

Yami grabbed the cat and hugged the creature to him as Mokuba sprinted for the car. The cat

tried to wriggle out of his hold. "It's okay," Yami told the struggling animal. "Mokuba is trying to help. You know he loves you. I don't believe, even as a cat, that you would ever forget."

The cat managed to free his forelegs. Yami braced for his attack. But the cat's claws stopped just short of breaking the surface of Yami's skin. For a moment they stared at one another. Yami drew in a breath and exhaled as the cat relaxed. The both watched as the car sped away.

"Come on, let's go inside," Yami said as he opened the door; the cat was still in his arms. Yami released the cat in the hallway and smiled proudly as he walked into the living room with barely a pause. Anzu was sitting by the door again. She squealed when the cat came up to her.

"He is so cute!" she said, bending down and fondling his ears.

"So, have you named the beast yet? Maybe it'll encourage him to stick around. Might improve his temper, too. It's worth a try," Jounouchi said.

Yami started in surprise. He'd thought of the cat as "Seto," but he knew better than to say that aloud. The creature in front of him held some wayward fragment of Kaiba's soul; the knowledge was too personal to share.

"You should take him to the vet, too. You know my delivery job? One of my regulars is a vet. They're always talking about how important it is to get pets check-ups and shots and stuff. I'll check out their hours the next time I'm there. Only you got to promise me not to cut his balls off," Jounouchi added.

Yami's mouth dropped open. "I promise." He sounded slightly out of breath. The cat walked over to him. Yami picked the animal up and hugged him to his chest.

Anzu shook her head. "I think you should do what the vet suggests. After all, if he's going to be a pet, it might be better for him; I've heard neutered animals live longer. And that way, you won't have to worry about him disappearing – or bringing more kittens into the world to starve half to death like him."

She ignored Yugi, who was making choking sounds behind her.

"I don't think I can do that," Yami gasped.

"If you're going to keep him as a pet, you have to think of what's best for him," Anzu scolded.

"Believe me, that's exactly what I'm doing." His grip on the cat tightened. "Don't worry," he whispered in the cat's ear, too quietly for Anzu to hear.

Anzu stood up and scanned the room, weighing the chances of any of the boys coming to her support.

"Hey, don't look at me. The whole subject creeps me out," Honda protested when she glanced in his direction.

Anzu sighed in annoyance and turned to Yugi. He'd stopped choking but his face was tomato red.

"You're all ridiculous. Anyone would think that we're talking about a person instead of a cat!" Anzu announced, her hands on her hips. There was a collective sigh of relief when after an exasperated snort and another shake of her head, she let the subject drop.

* * *

.

_**Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter.** _

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** I guess I've outdone myself in the bad pun department with this chapter title. Of course, more evidence of my possibly faulty sense of humor is in coming up with that last scene at all.

Even though Jounouchi and Honda have no idea that the cat is Kaiba, I figured they'd be against the whole idea of neutering on general principal. I could also see Yami not telling them that the cat is Kaiba, because Yami knows Kaiba would feel humiliated by having anyone know and that he'd regard it as a massive and unpardonable invasion of his privacy… and because Yami doesn't want to hurt him

I'm sorry for the late update, but life took a turn for the hectic.

**Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_**Please review; I'd really like to hear from you.** _


	8. The Cat's Meow

**CHAPTER 8: THE CAT'S MEOW**

It was strange, Kaiba mused, how much more easily he could remember each night as time passed. A week ago he'd struggled to pull up the memory of the smell of chicken. Now he knew that Mokuba had held him last night; that Mokuba had recognized him. Kaiba wasn't surprised. If their places had been switched, Bastet could have turned Mokuba into a flea, and Kaiba was sure that he'd still have known him on sight.

Kaiba smiled, remembering Mokuba holding him. It wasn't Mokuba's place to protect or comfort him; Mokuba was the younger brother, but it had felt… nice. Then Mokuba had handed him back to Yami. His brother wasn't abandoning him; the world would stop spinning on its axis before Mokuba did that. So Mokuba had to have decided, for whatever reason, that leaving him with Yami would help. It was another sign his brother was growing older. He was starting to make his own decisions, to trust in them. It was the result Kaiba had worked for ever since he'd promised to become Mokuba's father; it was strange to watch it happen.

And part of him hadn't minded being left with Yami... part of him was looking forward to seeing Yami again.

Kaiba shook his head, brushing the surprisingly seductive thought of Yami visiting out of his mind. Resolutely, he refocused on the night before. He still wasn't able to pick out individual words, but the gang had been there as usual. They'd been arguing. That should have made him wary, even as a cat, but he hadn't sensed betrayal in the raised voices or sharp tones. And Yami had been holding him close.

Kaiba paused, then gave in, letting his thoughts wander back to his rival without trying to recapture them. He would miss Yami when he woke up. He'd grown used to that odd sense of companionship, of affection even… to hearing Yami's confident voice, the harsh notes kept constantly under control… to feeling Yami's arms around him, even if Yami had no idea who he was hugging so tightly. He'd miss sleeping next to Yami, drifting off to the beat of Yami's heart.

Soon, Kaiba would open his eyes and it would all end. When he saw Yami again, they'd be facing each other as opponents across a dueling field, neither risking the faintest sign of weakness, both keeping everything locked away tight where the other couldn't reach. And Kaiba would be no more able to give words to his confused thoughts, to say them aloud, than he could right now, lying here unconscious and mute.

He was more than ready to rejoin the world. He was eager to see… to feel… to hold his brother again. But Kaiba had always accepted that there were prices to be paid for everything, even miracles. And he admitted that losing Yami would be one of them.

Even knowing all that, he couldn't help listening for the sound of Yami's voice.

But once again, Honda and Jounouchi were his first visitors. Mokuba looked up as they entered the room. After a brief nod in greeting, Honda sat down and began recounting the slightly boring details of his day. Mokuba had come to the conclusion that this must be what friends did – hang out and talk about nothing in particular. It was still strange having someone treat his brother like he was just another guy.

Jounouchi paced up and down, pausing every now and then to glare at Kaiba. "This just isn't fair!" he burst out.

Mokuba opened his mouth to remind Jounouchi that life wasn't fair – it was what his brother had taught him. "You're right. It _isn't_ fair!" came out instead.

"I'm pretty sure I'm never going to like the jerk… but seeing him like this… it's just wrong. Whatever I said at Duelists Kingdom or right after Death-T, no way he deserves this," Jounouchi said in a rush.

Honda stopped talking and stared at his friend. "We know you were just blowing off steam the other day."

Jounouchi shook his head and turned to Mokuba. "It's all so confusing. If I didn't know your brother and just had heard the stuff he'd done – like taking care of you or destroying the old Kaiba Corporation or creating all of this…" he waved his arm as if he expected holographic duel monsters to magically appear, "I'd probably think he was a pretty great guy. But in person… he's the asshole that taunts me every time we meet for thinking I might amount to something more than a dead-end loser." He turned to Kaiba as if he'd forgotten the other duelist couldn't hear him. "You're the guy that can't remember my name any better than I remember yours, Moneybags." Jounouchi laughed. "I guess I gave as well as I got on that exchange, huh, rich boy?"

Mokuba almost jumped out of his chair. Honda grabbed his arm. Mokuba glared at Honda, but the taller boy shook his head. He put his hand on Mokuba's shoulder and squeezed it gently. Although they were nothing alike, except in height, the gesture reminded Mokuba of his brother.

Jounouchi sighed and ran his hand through his already messed up hair. "Sometimes I swear you bring out the worst in me. I don't know if I matter enough that anything I do will help, and I don't know if we're ever going to be more than two people who don't quite hate each other, but for what it's worth, I hope you wake up so we can get find out. I want the chance to try, because we've been through too many tight spots together to pretend that doesn't matter. Besides, I'd like to get to know the guy who went head to head with a snake god without blinking an eye. He sounds a lot cooler that the jerk I usually get to see."

Mokuba nodded at Honda, glad he hadn't jumped Jounouchi the minute he'd started to trash his brother. He'd been so mad at Jounouchi for not liking his brother… but maybe he had to learn to accept Jounouchi in return as well, even when it meant accepting that he had plenty of reasons for being mad.

Jounouchi turned to Mokuba. "I really hope it works. I know you're crazy about your brother – and he's been amazing, no one could ask for a better one. I'm really trying my best – you have to believe that, kid. But I can't lie… and if there's one thing I know about Kaiba, it's that he can smell bullshit a mile off. I think he'd prefer I was upfront with him."

A reluctant grin tugged at the corners of Mokuba's mouth. He remembered that before this week had begun, he'd liked Jounouchi, he hadn't even minded (that much) the way the other boy kept ragging on his brother.

"Yeah… well let's just hope Bastet has a really wide definition of the word, acceptance," Mokuba said.

"Me too, kiddo. And don't bite my head off, but it's a lot easier to feel friendly towards your brother when he's asleep."

Honda glanced at Mokuba's red face and asked, "You just couldn't shut up while you were ahead, could you?"

Jounouchi grinned back. "Nah… it's not my style."

When Yami arrived, he stopped on the threshold and stared. Jounouchi, Mokuba and Honda were all talking at once, the words, and occasional laughs tumbling out, as if they hadn't fought bitterly a couple of days before. He wasn't surprised at Jounouchi's friendliness, he had an innate soft spot for younger siblings, but Yami knew how well and how long Mokuba could hold a grudge. It was one more thing he had in common with his older brother. Yami smiled, glad that at least one Kaiba was learning how to let go.

The room was much quieter after Jounouchi and Honda left.

Yami sat down and grabbed Kaiba's hand.

"How was he last night?" Mokuba asked.

"He was fine. I wouldn't let anything hurt him. I promise." Yami couldn't help but remember Anzu urging him to have the cat neutered, but that was the last thing Mokuba needed to hear.

Mokuba looked from Yami to his brother and shifted uneasily in his chair. "You know when my brother wakes up, he's going to be pretty…"

"Upset about all of this?" Yami finished.

"Yeah. It'll be even worse if everyone knows, especially if they... you know… get on him about it. Jounouchi wasn't acting like he had a clue, so I kept my mouth shut."

"I haven't told anyone but Yugi and he won't say a word – even to Jounouchi or Anzu," Yami said quickly.

"You sure?"

Yami nodded. "You can trust us."

Mokuba flushed and looked down. "I do. It's just… you know how my brother is. This is going to feel like one big weakness to him; he's going to feel bad." Mokuba couldn't quite bring himself to say that his brother would feel ashamed, but he knew it was true.

"He's wrong. It takes strength, not weakness, to survive a penalty game played by a goddess." Yami raised a hand before Mokuba could interrupt. "I know your brother doesn't feel that way. But it's true nonetheless."

"They why didn't you tell everyone?"

"This isn't only about trust; it's about being trustworthy as well. And that means respecting how Kaiba would feel, even – or maybe especially – because I know he expects to have his life picked apart and used against him, to have his hopes betrayed before he can begin to form them. Maybe that was what Bastet was trying to show me all along," he said, talking more to himself now than to Mokuba. He shook his head and focused on the younger boy again. "I don't want Kaiba to wake up a different person than the arrogant, prickly rival I've come to know – I just want him to wake up."

"I wonder if he'll remember any of this when he does," Mokuba said.

"And I wonder if he'll tell us."

Mokuba smiled back, but didn't answer. After a while Mokuba made his excuses to leave the room and take care of some Kaiba Corporation business. He could have stayed right where he was and they both knew it – he'd been working from his brother's room all week. But Mokuba had seen how Yami seemed to talk to his brother as if they were alone in the room. Now that Yami had shown that he was prepared to respect his brother's privacy, Mokuba was ready to do the same for Yami.

Yami moved his chair a little closer to Kaiba's bed after Mokuba left. He leaned forward to stroke one lean cheek.

"Once I would have been patient, I would have accepted that destiny would bring us together or not as the fates allowed. But now I know that is no way to live. It is time to wake up, Kaiba. I want you here with me, pushing back at every word I say, challenging every move I make, standing by me as we greet each new day, realizing together that each one is a precious gift. I miss you."

Yami sighed. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kaiba's forehead. "I'll be here waiting, you stubborn jerk, when you finally decide to come back."

Mokuba returned as the sun was getting ready to set. Yami nodded to him and headed home. He breathed a sigh of relief when he reached his door and found the cat waiting. The tip of the cat's tail was twitching impatiently.

"I'm sorry I was late. I hope I didn't inconvenience you too much," Yami said with a slight smile as he opened the door.

It was hard to tell if the cat had missed the faint note of sarcasm in Yami's voice or if he simply couldn't be bothered to react. He marched in as regally as always, tail and head held high. Only Sugoroku and Yugi were at home.

"Jounouchi said he had something important to do, but that he couldn't talk about it until he was sure his plan would come off." Yugi smiled and shook his head. "He sounded like he was in a spy movie. I could hear Honda groaning in the background. And Anzu has a rehearsal for her dance recital. I told her it was okay to keep doing normal stuff."

"Of course," Yami said as he picked the cat up and followed Yugi into the kitchen.

Dinner was quiet. Yami sat with the cat on his lap and Sugoroku pretended not to notice when Yami fed him scraps under the table. They'd barely finished clearing the dishes when they heard someone pounding on the door.

"Jounouchi, probably," Yugi said with a sigh as he went to answer it. Yami and the cat trailed after him.

Jounouchi and Honda tumbled in.

"Well, I did it!" Jounouchi announced. "You remember I told you about the vet on my delivery route? I went back to see if she was working late tonight. I told her the whole sob story of how you adopted this stray. She said she could fit you in so the nameless runt here can get his shots. She even said she'd charge you just for the shots since she had to work late anyway – and since I'm her favorite delivery guy."

"Shots?" Yami asked.

"Vaccinations so he doesn't get rabies and stuff," Honda explained.

"Yeah, like the little monster isn't rabid enough already," Jounouchi muttered.

"Will it hurt?" Yami asked, hugging the cat.

"A little, but he really needs them. No joke. The way he's out on the street all day, he could get hurt real easy. If some animal bites him he could get rabies, or if he steps on something rusty he could get tetanus. The vet explained it to me. She's an okay lady."

"I didn't get to see her. Jounouchi made me wait outside with the bike," Honda grumbled. "I didn't even find out if she's hot… like in a lab coat like in the movies… I'd be glad to go with you guys!" Honda's eyes lit up.

"Ugh… I think I'm going to throw up. She's my mom's age," Jounouchi said.

Honda's face fell. "Oh. Well, I'll come along anyway. Hey, maybe she has a daughter!"

"It's an animal clinic, not a dating service for idiots. Any daughter of hers would be too smart to want you, anyway." Jounouchi laughed.

Honda changed tactics. "You got after Yami to name his cat, and now you made him a vet appointment. Come on – admit it… you like the little beast."

Jounouchi punched his friend in the arm. "Nah, I still think he's a monster. But since Yami wants him so much, I guess that makes him one of the gang. So we might as well take care of him – and just think of how much worse he'd be if he got rabies."

Yami was glad of their argument. He needed time to think. He remembered how badly Kaiba had reacted to the flea collar. How much worse would he be when Yami took him to someone who stuck needles in him? It might be enough to make him run away and never return. The trust they'd established suddenly seemed so fragile. But Jounouchi was right. The longer this lasted, the greater the odds that something could happen to Kaiba.

"If you're going to keep him, you have to take care of him," Sugoroku said quietly.

Yami frowned. This was Kaiba. He barely took care of himself; he certainly didn't want someone else to take on the task. In a way though, Yami had been doing it all week, trying to figure out what would be best for the taller duelist, even when Yami didn't have a clue if he was heading in the right direction. He thought about how Kaiba had stayed with him even after Mokuba left, how he'd eventually gone to sleep snuggled in Yami's arms. The cat trusted him. But did he trust him enough? Did Kaiba?

It didn't matter Yami decided, relieved that he had finally made up his mind. It was too great a risk; he couldn't let Kaiba get hurt – or die – for something he could have prevented. He'd just have to hope that whatever strange foundation they'd been building was solid enough.

"Okay," Yami said scooping up the cat. "Let's do this."

"You can take the car," Sugoroku said.

"Ha! You do need me! I'm the only one who can drive," Honda said triumphantly.

"You're just going to carry him out like that? We could find a box or something," Yugi said, wondering what would happen if the cat disappeared before their eyes in the car.

"I think he'd prefer it if he could see everything going on. It might help him believe we're trying to help if we don't hide anything from him."

"Reality check, guys. This is a cat," Jounouchi muttered.

Honda shrugged. "People are weird about their pets."

The cat was tense, but he seemed content to hiss at the others from his perch on Yami's lap during the drive to the vet's.

The veterinarian was middle aged, briskly professional – and nothing like whatever Honda's fantasies had been. She dismissed the others to the waiting room while Yami and the cat followed her to the examining room. She was unperturbed when the cat hissed at her from her examination table, except to nod approvingly at Yami when he petted the skittish animal and spoke softly to him.

The cat must have felt like he wasn't getting his point across clearly enough because he switched from merely hissing to lashing out with his claws. One caught on the top of her latex glove. She disentangled it. Yami started apologizing.

She shrugged. "He's frightened. And he's a stray; they're even harder to calm down; he has a whole history telling him that humans are out to harm him."

"Yes, he does," Yami agreed.

"He's young though. That's good. He might be able to unlearn some of his behaviors if you're patient with him."

"I mean to be," Yami assured her.

"I'm keeping my examination brief, since he's agitated enough already. He's a little too skinny, but he's in good condition overall. He must be a resilient little guy. His coat's healthy and…" she paused and opened the cat's mouth, ignoring his attempts to bite, "his teeth seem in good working order."

Yami smiled ruefully. "They would be. Yes, he's always been too skinny. And it helps to remember just how resilient he is."

"I thought Jounouchi said you just found him?" Her voice rose slightly, turning the sentence into a question.

"I have… but sometimes it feels like we've always been together." Yami paused. "Thank you for seeing us."

Her smile was surprisingly impish. "I'll tell you a secret. I have a soft spot for strays."

"So do I." Yami smiled back.

"And Jounouchi's a good kid."

"The best," Yami agreed again.

She laid out her needles. Yami tried not to think about how big they looked in comparison. "Okay, this is going to hurt him and he's not going to understand why. Try staying by his head and petting him. It should help him stay calm."

Yami nodded and took his place. He couldn't lie, couldn't tell Kaiba that it wouldn't hurt. So he just reminded the cat in his lowest, most soothing voice that he wouldn't hurt him unless there was a reason. That he was there.

Yami tried not to wince at the almost human squall of pain and betrayal the cat gave when the needle finally plunged in. The vet finished giving the vaccinations quickly. The cat was still shaking as she cleaned up. Yami half expected the cat to disappear under his hands. He breathed a sigh of relief when the cat remained. He wanted to turn away from the impossibly blue eyes that stared unblinkingly into his, asking what had happened and why.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"They can make you feel guilty, can't they?" the vet said with another impish grin. "You did well. You both did. He might be an alley cat that hisses at everything that moves, but I'm guessing you won his trust. Of course, with strays, keeping it is the trick."

Yami nodded, petting the cat until, finally, the shivering died down. He picked up the cat, and cuddled it against his chest. The animal was stiff with tension, but he didn't try to escape. He just let Yami hold him. Yami suddenly felt humbled. The cat had no way of knowing that Yami meant well; Yami had stood by and let him be hurt. It must have felt familiar. And judging from the way the cat kept staring at Yami watching for sudden movements, even from the circle of his arms, Yami guessed he didn't quite believe he was safe, even now. But he was still here. He'd stayed. He was letting Yami hug and pet him and whisper over and over that he was going to be all right. As wary as he was, he was willing to give Yami a chance, he was willing to believe.

Would Kaiba feel the same?

For now though, it was time to get his suspicious, combative kitty home.

The cat dug his claws into Yami's shirt on the ride back, snagging some skin along with the material. Yami wondered if the cat was looking for reassurance that nothing worse was going to happen, a little payback, or (considering that this was Kaiba, after all), a bit of both. All the times Kaiba had demanded that Yami prove that friendship was real, that trust was more than a sucker's trap, flashed through Yami's mind. He hoped he'd come to understand Kaiba well enough to finally see: a plea for reassurance had been there all along.

The rest of the night was uneventful, except that the cat didn't hiss or spit – even at Jounouchi. And when Yami went to bed, a little early as always, the cat jumped up to join him without checking for land-mines first. He settled into the crook of Yami's arm, his fur tickling Yami's chin.

Just like he belonged nestled there.

Yami's eyes opened wide as he thought: just like he knows this is his last night as a cat and he wants to enjoy it.

Yami couldn't wait for the morning to arrive.

* * *

.

**Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** One thing that's a kick is writing everything anyone says about the cat so that it's also true for Kaiba. And I wanted to give the sense that Yami is thinking about Kaiba-the-person in his replies, but they work just as well for the cat. It's been a lot of fun; I hope it came across that way.

**Honda Note:** Honda's one of those characters, like Brock from Pokémon, who's level headed and responsible – until a pretty girl come along when he turns into a drooling dolt. Since he's been pretty much the voice of reason throughout this story, I wanted to also give a nod to that much, much sillier side of him. And I'm trying really hard not to think about what kind of movies Honda's referring to (lol).

**Review Note:** I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

**_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._ **


	9. A Major CATtitude Adjustment

**CHAPTER 9: A MAJOR CATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT**

Mokuba was grateful to the gang for coming so faithfully. But he also liked the time when night started to fade into morning, when he didn't have to keep up a brave front for anyone else, when he was alone with his brother and could pretend they were waiting up to watch the sun rise together.

"I love you, Nisama."

It was something he rarely said aloud. His brother would usually respond with a brief nod. On a good day he'd bark, "Me too, Mokuba. Never doubt it."

"Of course I won't," Mokuba would respond indignantly, ruffled that his brother thought he needed to remind him. Then one day Mokuba had caught the small smile on his brother's face before Kaiba had turned his head to hide it, and he'd realized his wonderful big brother was the one who needed the reassurance.

He stared at his brother as though concentrating hard enough could make his Nisama's eyes open. Mokuba's started to slide shut instead. His body slid forward until his arms were pillowing his head on his brother's bed.

Kaiba wondered if he was doomed to spend each morning trying to untangle what that troop of idiots had done to him the night before. He'd been somewhere that smelled strongly enough of antiseptic to remind him of all the times Gozaburo's control had broken in ways that had ended with his heir requiring discreet medical attention.

Kaiba shook the memory out of his head, not noticing how easily it had flown away, as insubstantial as a stray hair brushed from his face. He'd been fighting his past for years; he'd never dismissed it and had it leave so readily, as he focused on the present instead. He was feeling achy; he could remember a series of short stabbing pains the night before. Yugi and his friends were well-meaning dolts. He'd been a cat, he'd been somewhere that smelled like a doctor's office… and cats needed vaccinations and medical check-ups… and…. He moved his hand downwards under the covers, and breathed a sigh of relief. At least he still had his balls.

Kaiba froze. That hadn't happened in his imagination. He'd actually moved his hand. Kaiba's eyelids flickered experimentally, then opened. It was strange, he thought, to actually be able to see, to watch the weak dawn light filter through his windows. He looked down. Mokuba had fallen asleep in a chair next to him; his head had flopped down on Kaiba's bed. Messy black hair hid his face. Kaiba gently brushed the hair aside. Mokuba blinked sleepily than sat up.

"Nisama!" he cried.

He leapt onto the bed, hugging his brother.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you," Kaiba said, his voice rusty from disuse.

"I knew you'd come back!"

"Of course I would. It'll take more than some cheezy cat goddess to keep me down permanently." Kaiba said, pleased his lips could still twist into a smirk despite the lack of practice.

Mokuba laughed. Kaiba debated getting up. He'd been in bed for over a week. But he was holding Mokuba, the scent of unwashed little boy was filling his nostrils, Mokuba's hair was tickling his chin – and he couldn't think of a reason to move. Although there was no one else to hear, he whispered anyway. "I know what you did. It meant a lot that you were keeping an eye on everything… Kaiba Corporation… me… you'd make one hell of a big brother, Mokuba."

At Kaiba's words, Mokuba's laughs changed to great gulping sobs. He was still lying across Kaiba's torso; the front of Kaiba's pajama top grew damp from the force of his tears.

"It's okay. I promise. It's been tough, but it's over now," Kaiba said.

Mokuba nodded. His sobs got quieter and died away. He shifted a little so he was lying by Kaiba's side. Kaiba still couldn't think of a reason to move.

"I don't know why I cried like that," Mokuba said. "I really did know you were coming back to me."

"As did I," Yami added, as he walked into the room.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed as he assessed the other duelist. Yami met his gaze. There was no mockery in his expression, or pity, or any of the other emotions Kaiba had been afraid of finding. Only an overwhelming sense of relief showed. Yami took a broken step forward than leaned across the bed to hug Kaiba… and Kaiba decided to put the question of what Yami knew on hold, at least until Yami's hair was no longer brushing against his face.

"It wasn't all darkness," Kaiba said. "I knew you were here, Mokuba. I could feel you and even hear you, kind of." He turned to Yami. "You, too."

He felt Yami's nod. With the both of them leaning on him, he should have felt trapped or confined. But their bodies were as soothing as a comforter on a cold night. For once he felt peaceful… up until the moment the gang rushed into the room.

"Hey, you're awake!" Jounouchi yelled.

Kaiba stared at them. They'd come to visit almost every day, sometimes singly, sometimes all at once. He knew that. But today, his room felt over-crowded. He wasn't used to seeing anyone in it but himself and Mokuba. And now Yugi and his friends were all smiling and staring at him expectantly – although what the hell they were expecting, Kaiba couldn't tell.

He hadn't been able to distinguish individual words while he'd been in a coma, but now his memory was returning. Anzu had actually cried over him – something so weird he could barely take it in. He'd never bothered learning the tall kid's name before since he wasn't much of a duelist, but Honda had sat next to him day after day, talking about his motorcycle and his nephew, trying in his clumsy, clueless way to help. He suddenly remembered Honda saying, "You know what I love about Saturday? It's _my_ day and I can do whatever I want with it."

Well, this was _his_ day. If he threw the whole group of them out of his room there was nothing even Bastet could do about it. Bastet had violated his mind, had taken all semblance of choice from him. He wanted to snap his fingers in her face by booting them all out of his house. Except, for the first time he realized that he had a choice. He didn't have to be a jerk just to continue a fight with someone who wasn't even there. He could despise Bastet without taking that hatred out on everyone around him.

"It's my decision," he said. It came out as a snarl.

"What?" Jounouchi yelped but before he could say anything more, Yami grabbed his arm.

Yami turned back to Kaiba. "Yes, it is. And we'll accept whatever that choice is."

Kaiba hadn't meant to snarl at them, but once he had, he'd expected a fight or protests about his ingratitude or some reaction beyond Yami's calm smile.

He drew in a breath. It was his day and they'd helped bring it about.

"Thank you for your assistance. It helped to resolve matters." The words were formal – more suited to a business meeting than a get-well visit. They were awkwardly worded. But they'd been spoken nonetheless.

"Hey, I think by this time we should stop keeping score of who owes who and for what, don't you?" Honda said from the back of the room.

"I'll meet you downstairs in the dining room after I've gotten dressed. But after whatever the hell meal it's time for…" he drew in a breath, "I'd like to spend the rest of the day with my brother."

They surprised him again. He'd expected them to scowl or berate him for not wanting a group hug, for needing time and space. Instead they smiled as though he'd said something amazingly clever – instead of having just thrown them out of his room.

"Yeah, sure, we get it. You need to spend time with your brother. He's been the greatest," Jounouchi said as they headed out the door.

Kaiba felt an impulse to call out to Yami to stay, but his hair was lank and he was awake enough to care about how he looked, especially in front of his rival.

Kaiba showered and dressed, glad his movements were as precise and efficient as ever, with no sign of fatigue or loss of muscle tone.

As he buttoned his shirt and pulled on his pants, Kaiba could remember the feel of Yami's hand. It had been gentle, whether he was stroking a cat in his home, or brushing the hair off Kaiba's forehead in bed. It had been different from (although obviously in no way superior to) the brief hugs he and Mokuba had occasionally exchanged. Kaiba frowned. The part of his life that included Yami touching him was over. After all, human beings didn't pet each other when they were both awake and conscious.

He didn't look around when the door opened and closed behind him. He didn't need to turn around to recognize Yami's soft step.

"Do you remember anything?" Yami asked as came over to Kaiba and rested his hand on Kaiba's shoulder.

Kaiba remembered everything… purring in Yami's arms… wanting to remain there… feeling cared for… feeling wanted.

But Kaiba had a more urgent question of his own – one he couldn't bring himself to ask. How much did Yami remember and what did he know?

For the first time since he was eight and had stared up at the orphanage doors, swearing never to reveal an emotion again, a slight flush heated his cheeks, stained them a pale pink.

Kaiba turned around. Yami's hand slid to Kaiba's arm.

"Remember what? I was unconscious… unless you believe in fairy tales now, in addition to obsolete goddesses. Why are you asking, anyway?" Kaiba parried.

It was Yami's turn to pause. He glanced up at Kaiba's face, wishing it was more revealing. The blue eyes were as opaque as ever. But Kaiba hadn't walked away; he hadn't even thrown off Yami's hand, it was still resting in the crook of Kaiba's elbow. Had a door – even a small cat-sized door – finally appeared in the wall that Kaiba had built around himself?

Yami thought of Bastet saying that friendship without acceptance is only half offered.

He reached up and stroked Kaiba's hair as though he was still a cat. "I believe in everything – and you most of all."

"What Bastet did… giving me an ultimatum, forcing me… it wasn't right," Kaiba said, dropping the pretense of total ignorance once he saw that Yami was prepared to indulge it. It was as close as he could get to admitting what had happened. He glanced at Yami, expecting him to argue. He drew in a breath and braced himself, ready for a recitation of all the reasons he had to be grateful to the cat goddess, a litany of all the flaws that had made such a drastic step necessary.

"No. It wasn't right," Yami agreed.

Kaiba stared at him for a moment. Then Kaiba gave a quick nod and said, "But it happened… and now…"

"You don't know where to go?"

Kaiba frowned and looked away. "I can't disagree with what she was trying to tell me. You… your friends…"

"She should have trusted you. We should have done the same."

That brought Kaiba's eyes back to Yami. Whenever the conversation turned to trust, he was usually on the receiving end of the lecture.

"Bastet underestimated you," Yami said quietly. "You would have figured it out on your own. She took that from you."

Kaiba nodded briefly. He hadn't been sure what to expect when Yami had walked in the room, but Yami understanding something he couldn't quite put into words himself, hadn't been on the list.

"Come on," Yami said, squeezing Kaiba's arm. "Let's go join the others."

Breakfast was an easier affair than Kaiba had expected. His dining room still seemed very full of people, but they didn't expect answers to the questions they posed in the soft tones you used in hospital rooms. In an odd way, it was appropriate. Physically he felt fine, like he'd just woken up from a good night's sleep. (Which was, admittedly, a rare enough occurrence in and of itself.) But although none of them, including Kaiba, could have said just what he was recovering from, in some other, undefinable way, he did feel like a convalescent, like one newly restored to life.

They left as cheerfully as they'd come. None of them seemed to notice that Yami stayed behind.

"What do you want to do today?" Yami asked when the three of them were seated again at Kaiba's dining room table.

What _did_ he want? Kaiba had been so focused on waking up, he hadn't thought further than that. What were his favorite things, Kaiba wondered. Working, he supposed, but he knew better than to say that aloud. He closed his eyes. A picture of Yami stroking his back, then brushing the hair off his forehead flashed across his lids. Kaiba opened them with a snap. He was sitting at the table with his brother. Why was he thinking of Yami like that… and why was the image so startlingly real?

Kaiba frowned and tried again. "I've always had things I've needed to accomplish: rebuilding Kaiba Corporation, raising Mokuba, reclaiming my Duel Monsters title, and the tasks that went with them. But I don't think I've ever asked myself what I want to do on any given day."

Yami's grin turned impish. "Neither have I."

"You guys are nuts!" Mokuba exclaimed happily.

"Possibly," Yami agreed.

They both turned to Kaiba again. He tried to come up with something suitable, but he wasn't used to celebrating anything other than Mokuba's birthdays or Kaiba Corporation product launches. If he had to put a word to his emotions, he felt free. So in a way was Yami, able to be his own person for the first time. And freedom, to Kaiba, had always meant flight.

"Do you want to go flying?" He didn't ask Yami directly, but he didn't exclude him either.

"Yes. I'd like that," Yami answered.

Kaiba nodded. His Blue Eyes White Dragon plane was a two-seater, but there was the customized LearJet he sometimes used when he was taking Isono and Fubeta with them. It was light and fun to maneuver and he suddenly wanted to share the sky with Yami as well as with Mokuba.

Mokuba looked from his brother to Yami. "I better go get ready!" he said as he ran for the door.

Kaiba stood up as Mokuba darted out, but he made no move to follow his brother. Yami joined him by the head of the table. Neither could think of anything to say; neither wanted to be the first to break eye contact.

In some ways everyone had been right, Yami thought in frustration. It _was_ easier to talk to Kaiba when he was asleep, when he wasn't staring at you with a hint of uncertainty in those startlingly blue eyes. And that suddenly, another realization slammed into Yami: when had he ever seen Kaiba show anything less than total decisiveness before?

Yami reached out and grabbed Kaiba's hand, just as he had all week. Kaiba didn't say anything. His eyes didn't leave Yami's face, although neither could have said what he was searching for so earnestly, but some of the tension left his body. Then, slowly, for the first time, his fingers curled around Yami's hand in return.

"Why?" Kaiba said, although he wasn't sure what he was asking beyond that one word. Why had Yami stayed by his side all week? Why had Yami taken in a stray cat? Why had he reached out to hold Kaiba's hand?

"Because I wanted to."

Kaiba wondered which of his unspoken questions Yami was answering.

"Because I've been waiting all week for this," Yami added.

Kaiba didn't answer. He was alone in the room with Yami and the one question he'd avoided asking. "What do you know? About last week, I mean?"

He kept his eyes trained on Yami (not that his gaze had wandered from the moment Mokuba had left the room.) He was still waiting for some sign of contempt – or worse – pity. He saw the amusement in Yami's expression first. It was a gentle thing though, and utterly devoid of mockery. It skimmed the surface of Yami's eyes, a glaze over some darker, deeper emotion that Kaiba couldn't quite decipher.

"I know as much or as little as you remember," Yami said. There was a teasing note in his voice, but even Kaiba could recognize the sincerity of his offer: Yami was willing to accept whatever version of the last week that Kaiba decided to maintain.

"You know what else I know about the past week? That you're incredibly brave and resourceful, that you can survive any penalty game thrown at you and come out stronger than ever. That the future is suddenly so much more real than it was a week ago… for both of us."

Yami stood on his tiptoes and brushed Kaiba's lips with his own. He took a step back. Kaiba might have looked less stunned if Yami had slugged him instead. Then his tongue flicked out, lightly running over his lips, trying to capture the taste of Yami's mouth before it faded.

Kaiba's mouth silently formed the single word: "Why?"

"Because I wanted to. Because I've been waiting all week," Yami repeated.

Kaiba wondered if Bastet had lied, if he was still under some sort of spell. He wanted to write off the tangled emotions of the past week as an aberration or as the machinations of a malicious goddess. But that would mean writing off Yami… and writing off his first kiss… as an aberration as well. He studied the smaller, slighter man. Yami didn't need spells to enchant. Kaiba was willing to admit that, at least to himself.

He wanted to give in, to surrender to this unexpected feeling of warmth and safety, but he couldn't do that either. He was still Seto Kaiba. He was still wary.

Yami gave his hand a slight squeeze. "It's okay. I'm here. You're awake. We have all the time we need to figure the rest of it out."

Time had always been something that had rushed past Kaiba while he grabbed it and held on as tightly as he could, hoping to be pulled into his future. He had never thought of time as something to have, as if you could hold it in your cupped hands, before.

Kaiba barely managed to nod. Yami's smile was blinding; Kaiba would have looked away… except he didn't want to. And it was his day.

Before he could begin to shape his thoughts into words, Mokuba ran back into the room.

"You mean you guys are still just standing here? Are you sure you're okay, Nisama?"

Kaiba mustered up a smile. Slight as it was, it managed to encompass both Mokuba and Yami. "Yes. I'm sure of it. And for once, time seems to be on my side."

Mokuba frowned as he tried to puzzle out his brother's final sentence for a moment before giving up. He loved his brother, but he often found his pronouncements incomprehensible. And Mokuba had gotten so used to seeing Yami holding his brother's hand over the past week that he didn't notice Yami's fingers were still entwined with Kaiba's until Yami gave a final squeeze and released him as they headed for the door. But Mokuba turned away too quickly to catch the smile that returned to flicker across his brother's face, too wary to settle there but unwilling to retreat.

* * *

.

_**Thanks to BnoMiko for betaing this story. It's been a lot of fun!** _

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** It's hard to believe that I'm already up to writing my final author's note. Then again, sometimes I have a hard time believing I wrote a nine-chapter story that turned Kaiba into a cat (lol). But instead of writing about Kaiba learning to trust, I wanted to have Kaiba experience trust instead – to see what it looks and feels and even smells and tastes like. (As it turns out, it tastes a lot like chicken!)

I wanted to write about acceptance as well. One thing that struck me in Yu-Gi-Oh! is that even after Yugi and his friends find out about Kaiba's relatives abandoning him, Gozaburo, his role in designing weapons, his betrayal by Pegasus and his own Board of Directors and all the Mokuba kidnapping attempts, on some level, they _still_ expect him to be like them and are frustrated when Kaiba can't grasp all the basic things he has no experience with – like friendship and trust. So for all of Kaiba's showy, in-your-face flaws, I also wanted to explore the idea that Yugi and (especially) his friends have something to learn as well.

Well, that and I wanted to turn Kaiba into a cat – with getting to make a bunch of cat puns, including some of the silliest chapter titles I've ever come up with – as an extra perk.

_**Thank you very much for reading, for commenting and for all the cat stories and cat puns. It really made this story a lot of fun to tell.** _

_**Now that the story is over, whether your reaction is good, bad or anything in-between, I'd really love to hear from you. Please review.** _

* * *

**Upcoming story idea:** I have another story I'm in the middle of drafting. This one will be a flat-out romance. With my usual subtlety, the working title is "Return to Romance." **Summary:** It was the happy ending nobody expected – especially Yami. He knew he should be grateful but living had never been part of his game plan before. Then Kaiba decides it's time to repay his debts. But rivalry and obligation don't quite add up to friendship, much less romance.

If you enjoyed "Hello Kitty Kaiba," I hope you check it out. I should be ready to start posting in the fall.


End file.
